One Step at a Time
by sports990
Summary: Sequal to My Choice. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico are the only ones awake in the world of mythology. What will they have to do to wake everyone up? What will they give up to keep the world safe in all the gods hands? PERCABETH!
1. Prolouge

**Hello everyone! I'm percyrocksmysoxs. I am an eleven year old girl, so my writing may not be superb. This fanfiction is the sequel to My Choice. This isn't a real chapter, but a prologue. If you did read My Choice, you may want to refresh your memory, because random things from other chapters may come up. This story is sort of a PJOXHP crossover. There are no characters from Harry Potter in it, but some thoughts from the story come into this story. Review if you want to. Now on with the prologue! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything PJO or HP.**

**One Step at a Time**

**Prologue (It is horribly put together. I promise that my writing is **_**way **_**better.) **

The quick summary for this story is: Nico was working as a double agent for Kronos so he could send information to the half-bloods. He makes an empathy link with Percy.

Silena went over to Kronos's side, and Annabeth, Percy, and Grover went on a quest to save her. They succeeded, but she betrayed them again, and maimed Annabeth. Annabeth almost died but was able to live. Percy and Annabeth got together after she was healed.

Percy ended up killing Silena, but not before she gave permission to allow her army into camp.

Camp Half-Blood fought the army, and Thalia came and won it for the half-bloods. (Thalia hates being a hunter and plans to quit as soon as Percy fulfills the prophecy.)

Kronos captures Grover and Annabeth and Thalia and Percy go on a quest to save them.

When Percy almost dies he finds out that when you are so close to dying, but you are holding onto one thought, you go to a different world. It's halfway between the real world and the underworld.

Percy successfully sends Kronos back to Tartarus, and he and Thalia save Annabeth and Grover.

The gods are very pleased that Percy defeated the Titan Lord, but are still worried because Percy still has to fulfill the prophecy, and a battle was on the way.

The battle comes, and the half-bloods win, with the help of the Flying Dutchman. (For a better understanding of this read chapter 35.)

Clarisse, Juniper, and Beckendorf die in battle. (Beckendorf died to save Thalia.)

On Percy's birthday, Grover gives him a wood pipe, Thalia gives him a Green Day CD, and Annabeth gives him a 'Manly chain.'

Nico comes and tells Percy that they have to break the empathy link because Nico is going to work with his dad in the underworld. He gives him a silver ring with a skull on it that matches his. It works like an empathy link, and it can even transport you to wherever the other person is. However to make it work, you need to put a piece of your soul in it. This is where the PJOXHP crossover comes in, and this story begins.


	2. Complicated

**Hello! For those of you who don't know, HP stands for Harry Potter, and if you don't know what anything Harry Potter is, feel free to PM me about it! Some of you may have noticed that I had added an Authors Note, but then I deleted it. That is because I will not be doing a Lord of the Rings crossover. This chapter is not a summary, but a real chapter. It takes place on Olympus, in a meeting with the gods. I am having them already be at the doors to the throne room. I will try to update tomorrow but I may not have time. Hope you like this chapter, REVIEW please!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything PJO or HP. **

**Complicated**

Thalia, Annabeth, Grover, Nico, and I were standing outside the marble, white doors to the throne room. Annabeth was leaning on her crutch, Grover was twiddling with his Rasta cap, Nico was rubbing his ring, and Thalia was rubbing her bracelet. I was just anticipating what the gods were going to do to me. I wondered-as I have many times before-if being a guinea pig would be a good animal to turn into after all.

Grover had just reached out his hand to knock, when the doors swung open without a creek.

All twelve Olympian gods were sitting in their thrones, looking at us.

The throne room, and gods inside it, was even more intimidating than before. Every single eye was trained on all four of us, and the expressions differed from blank to content. Some even looked bored. Then there was the throne room itself. Its massive stone columns and just the pure majesty of the room, along with the power of twelve Olympian gods, fuzzed together to form a very intimidating scene.

"Happy birthday, son." Poseidon addressed to me as all of us walked slowly towards the gods. Everyone went slowly, taking in the daunting surroundings.

"Thanks dad," I said, blushing for no apparent reason. I guess it was just odd for him to even talk to me.

We looked apprehensively at each other, but before we could say anything Athena spoke.

"I sense the son of Hades has something to say." Athena said. "Go on boy."

"Um…well…um" Nico said, obviously flustered.

"Go on," said Annabeth giving him a small, sisterly nudge.

"I am going to the underworld to train with my father. Percy and I have an empathy link, but I have to destroy it, or else it could be very dangerous. When I went to the underworld last year, my father gave me this ring." He said taking it off, and holding it up. "He said it could be used for many things, but you have to put a piece of your soul into it. I have not yet put my soul into it, because I wish to use it like an empathy link with Percy. I have given him the other ring, and he hasn't out his soul into it either. There is still one more ring, but I am keeping it until I figure out what to do with it."

"Now look here Nico." my father said, "Why do you think my son will willingly give up part of his soul?"

"Because there are still many followers of Kronos out there, and if he puts part of his soul into the ring, it will save him. He will have two lives." Nico said adamantly.

"Will it be painful?" I inquired.

"Hold on!" Zeus shouted. "Perseus needs to sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. The day will not continue unless he quickly sacrifices it. Poseidon, where is the Ophiotaurus?"

"I shall summon it immediately." My father responded, while picking up his Trident, and pounding it on the ground three times. A small green glow began to light up the room, and then, sitting in an aquarium that had just appeared, was Bessie.

"Son now is when you make your decision. But you must know this, if you choose to keep the gods, you will be keeping Kronos as well." Poseidon said encouragingly.

"Ok, I choose to keep the gods. I know that Kronos is horrible, but you all help the world. The world needs you. If another time comes that we need to fight Kronos, I am confident that we will be able to take him down." I said. After so much consideration, I was positive that I had made the right decision.

"A fine speech son, now do you have the sand dollar I gave you for your fifteenth birthday?" Poseidon said.

"Yeah, it's…" I put my hand in my pocket, because I felt a lump. I pulled it out, and the sand dollar was in my hand. I looked up at my father who was smiling. "Now what?"

"Go over to the Ophiotaurus and throw it into the water." Poseidon said.

I did as I was told, and went over to the aquarium. I threw the sand dollar into the water.

With a flash of bright light, it sunk into the water and disappeared along with Bessie.

"Did it work?" I asked turning around.

That's when I noticed something was wrong.

The gods had…gone to sleep? That's what it looked like at least. They were slumped over in their thrones, with a blank expression, and their eyes closed.

I looked over at Grover, Nico, Thalia, and Annabeth, and I saw that they too looked very confused.

Slowly we each went up to the gods. I poked my father, but he didn't wake up.

I looked over at the others and saw that they too had had no success in waking them up.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?


	3. Lucky

**Howdy! Sorry I didn't update two days ago, I had a party, and yesterday I had soccer. Anyway….Oh no, what's going to happen to the gods? Are they asleep, or did something go wrong during the sacrifice? Read on to find out! REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything HP of PJO.**

**P.S. I believe some of you are confused: the first chapter was a summary of my first story, My Choice. So yes it did go fast, and it was very crappy, but if you didn't like it then read the entire forty chapters of My Choice. I was just trying to help you by giving you a quick review! **

**Lucky**

As soon as we were doing poking and prodding the gods, we came to the conclusion that they were asleep…ok, Annabeth came to the conclusion that they were asleep.

Without knowing what else to do, we opened the marble doors, and exited the throne room.

When we stepped outside, we reentered a state of shock. Every minor godling, hawker, and animal was lying on the ground, asleep. Even the satyrs were sleeping. I looked over at Grover, but I didn't see him. Annabeth let out a small scream, and pointed to the ground. Just like every other satyr, Grover had curled up in a ball, and gone into an impenetrable sleep.

***

As soon as we got back to camp, we all ran up the hill. We decided Grover would be safer if we just left him on Olympus.

As soon as we got to the Big House, we barged through the door without an invitation. The problem was we wouldn't have gotten one anyway. Chiron and Mr. D were slumped over the table which they had been play pinochle on.

"Di immortals!" Thalia yelled. "What happened?"

"Nico, go check the other campers, maybe they are awake!" I commanded Nico, and he obeyed.

***

"So let's recap, shall we?" Annabeth said, while sitting down at the Athena table. "Every single god, demigod, except for us, and magical creature is now in a sleep that they can't be woken up from."

"Ya, that's right so far." Thalia said, sitting next to Annabeth.

"We are possibly the only people in the entire world to be awake. I'm not sure if we are lucky to be awake or unlucky. " Annabeth continued.

"Check." Thalia said.

"And finally, we have no idea what to do, and my freaking leg is killing me!" Annabeth said, falling off of her seat, clutching her leg. I ran over to help her up, and she just gritted her teeth in pain.

"Don't worry, I'll go get you some ambrosia and nectar." I said soothingly. On top of everything that had happened today, it was kind of hard to remember that there were other needs.

"No I will," Thalia said, before I could get up.

"Ok…" I said, while Thalia sprinted off, and came back two minutes later, and dosed Annabeth.

"You know what?" Nico said suddenly. "I think we need to visit the oracle!"

"Ya!" Annabeth said, getting up and leaning on her crutch.

"Wait…but…I'm confused!" I said in an exasperated tone.

"Seaweed Brain, we need to visit the oracle so it can tell us what to do. Duh!" Annabeth said.

"Oh!" I said nodding my head, but still not really understanding what they meant.

"Just come on!" Thalia said, yanking on my hand, and leading us towards the Big House attic.

As we were walking, Thalia stopped short.

"What is it?" I inquired.

"I just remembered; I don't have to be a hunter anymore!" she said with her face lighting up in a grin.

"How do you break your vow when Artemis is asleep?" Nico asked.

"Um…I think you're going to have to kiss a guy." Annabeth said timidly.

"That is _so _never going to happen!" Thalia said disgusted.

"Well, how else are supposed to break the vow?" Nico said excitedly.

"There is no way in Hades that I am kissing a twelve year old, or how ever old you are!" Thalia said, as though just the thought of it gave her the creeps.

"Thalia, your only other choice is me." I said, backing away slowly.

"Percy, its ok you can." Annabeth said while stifling a laugh.

"Percy," Thalia said while gritting her teeth, "Please help me, just this once!"

"Hey Thalia, I'll do it." Nico said with a shrug.

"No! I'll just kiss Seaweed Brain!" Thalia screamed before grabbing my shirt, and pulling me into a kiss.

I didn't feel anything during the kiss. I just kept my eyes open and let Thalia's mouth crush against mine. Thankfully, she only kissed me for about one second, so it was over quickly.

"Oh goodie, I got to kiss Seaweed Brain. Aren't I lucky?" Thalia said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.


	4. It Ends Tonight

**Hello. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. This chapter is about them visiting the oracle. In case you didn't know this, I name all of my titles after songs, just wanted you to know that. Also I hate writing long chapters, so the longest one would only be about four pages. Review please!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**It Ends Tonight**

"Hey," I protested. It's not like Annabeth said over and over how great of a kisser I am, but I know that I'm not _horrible_.

"Please, Percy. That was just about a great as kissing a frog! Sorry to break it to you, but you really suck at kissing." Thalia said. She was whipping her mouth, and spitting on the ground. I rolled my eyes. She was going _way _too far, trying to pretend like I was that horrible.

Without a word to anyone, I trudged forward to the Big House. I heard footsteps behind me, and the crunching of gravel, but I didn't bother to slow down. I had to focus on the task at hand.

***

Annabeth had a hard time getting up there on a broken leg, so in the end I ended up carrying her. She's not too heavy, but seriously, you should try carrying a teenage girl up three flights of stairs. Anyone would be drenched in sweat by the end of it.

When we arrived at the trap door to the attic, it swung open without a touch.

We walked into the musty smelling room, and came face to face with the hippy looking oracle. A voice spoke in my head: _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask. _

I looked over at the others, and they nodded to me. Great, no one was going to help me.

I went up to the mummy, and said, "How do we save the world?" I then winced at how stupid that sounded.

Then, a picture formed with me, Thalia, and Nico in thrones that looked awfully like our fathers. Annabeth was sitting on the floor looking over some papers. Then the spirit of Delphi opened its mouth and spoke:

_Three sons and daughters of the big three_

_Will have to take a big leap_

_In the thrones of their fathers they will sit_

_And make sure the eternal flame is still lit_

_Three rings will help along the way_

_A daughter of Athena will help from day to day_

_A choice will come from in the heart so deep_

_Or all will stay in an impenetrable sleep_

Then the oracle closed its mouth, as though it would stay like that for a hundred years.

All four of us looked at each other, and then, with me carrying Annabeth, we silently descended down the stairs, and back onto the grassy land of our camp.

Thalia, Nico, and I all turned to Annabeth, waiting for an explanation. She sighed and looked back at us.

"Oh come on!" Annabeth said impatiently. "You guys seriously don't know what the prophecy meant?"

"Nope!" we all said at the same time.

"Well, all of you guys are going to rule the world while our parents are asleep. You are each going to wear one of those rings that Nico has, so apparently you are going to have to put your souls into it, like now. I guess they mean the eternal flame of Western civilization, so you just have to rule until we figure out what to do. I am going to help you all do stuff, apparently. Then I guess you will all have to make an important decision, or everyone will die."

"How pleasant." Thalia said sarcastically.

"Oh yes, wonderful indeed!" Nico replied.

"You guys should probably get started on the Horcrux thing." Annabeth said.

"It is not a Horcrux!" Thalia said, suddenly aggravated.

"Ok…sorry." Annabeth said holding up her hands in surrender.

"It just that we aren't in a book and Harry Potter is a book. I hate being compared to it." Thalia mumbled. Obviously she was annoyed.

"Hey it's cool." Nico said. Then, addressing the group at large, he said, "But Annabeth's right we do need to get started on that. If we don't, we might not be able to save the world!"

"Ah, the feeling of the Earth resting on my shoulders is here again! How I missed that feeling!" I said sarcastically. Actually, I had had to hold up the sky a few years ago, and that sure wasn't something I wanted to do again.

"Get used to it Seaweed Brain. You're a hero. The fate of the world is always going to be on your shoulders." Annabeth said, while standing up and leaning on her crutch.

"Yeah I guess." I said, and then a thought struck me. I turned to Annabeth and said, "Do you know that song It Ends Tonight?"

"Yeah. Why?" Annabeth said.

"I just hope my life doesn't end tonight" I responded, before beginning to walk to my cabin with the other behind me.


	5. A Little Bit Longer

**Hi everyone. Just in case you haven't realized this; I usually update my chapters at night. I don't want to tell you what this chapter is about so you'll just have to read it! It's pretty long by my standards, so review please!!!! **

**Disclaimer: I don't on anything PJO or HP!**

**A Little Bit Longer**

I had been asleep, in my comfy bed, in cabin three. But, I woke up.

As my eyes slowly fluttered open, I began to rack my brain to try and remember the dream I had last night. Usually, my dreams are important to remember because they send me a message. Then, I realized that I hadn't had a dream last night. I found that intriguing, because usually when I was at camp, I had dreams every night.

I slowly swung my legs over the bed, and stood up. I went over to the mirror, and tried to fix my mattered hair, but it wouldn't stay down. Sighing, I left it alone. Nothing could ever help my hair.

I pulled some clothes on, and then walked outside.

The leaves crunched beneath my feet, and the dew soaked right through my socks. Even though it was early in the day, the sun was already beating overhead, and my spirits lifted. The day was nice, and maybe, just for once, we could escape heroism, and just relax.

Then, I noticed that Thalia and Annabeth were already up, and at the Dining Pavilion. I walked over to them, when a thought struck me. When I got within talking distance of them, I asked then, "Where is Nico sleeping?"

"Your room, duh!" Thalia said, as though I'd gone insane.

"Um…no he's not." I said. Worry started to creep into my thoughts. What if Nico was missing?

"I thought he was going to stay in Zeus's cabin?" Annabeth said curiously.

"Oh my gods!" we all said at the same time. Realizing that we had lost Nico, we started racing off in a bunch of different directions screaming his name, the beautiful day forgotten.

***

After fifteen minutes of searching, we still hadn't found him.

"Oh no!" Annabeth said, while setting her crutches down, and sitting on the ground, next to Half-Blood Hill. "I can't believe Nico is gone!"

"He's not gone," Thalia said bracingly. "We'll find him."

Meanwhile, I had been walking to the border line.

That's when I saw him. "Thalia, go get some nectar and ambrosia, now! Annabeth come here!"

Annabeth hobbled over as fast as she could, and looked at what I was staring at. Nico was lying on the ground, but there was no trace of blood, or any indication that he was injured.

She rushed over to his body, and check for a pulse. By the looks of it, she was worried, but at that moment, there were more pressing matters. I heard something off to the side of Thalia's old pine tree, and I turned my head toward the sound. Lurking in the shadows of the branches was a "Canadian" giant.

As soon as it saw me looking at it, it jumped out of its hiding place, and ran to attack Annabeth and Nico.

I quickly drew Riptide from my pocket, and stepped in front of them. Annabeth grabbed Nico, and jumped out of the way.

I saw Thalia coming over the hill, and I yelled for her to come and help me. She dropped the food of the gods, and charged into battle.

Annabeth was dragging Nico lifeless body out of the way, while Thalia and I fought the giant.

Within moments of Thalia arriving, the monster was defeated, turning into dust. Without even bothering to congratulate each other, we ran over to Nico and Annabeth.

"Thalia, get the medicine!" Annabeth yelled, and Thalia sprinted back to where the food of the gods was.

A few minutes after the food went down his throat, his eyes opened.

"Nico, are you ok? What happened?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Nico replied. He began to try to sit up, but immediately went back down, clutching his head.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth said worriedly.

"I tried to put my soul into the ring, but I don't think it worked. I came out here, so I could have some privacy, but I turned out that it was a stupid move. Sorry." He added, hanging his head.

"It's ok, don't worry about it kid." Thalia said smiling. "So Annabeth, how do we put our freaking soul into the freaking rings?"

"First of all, you are only going to be putting a fraction of your soul into the 'freaking' rings. Now, since they are in the shape of a skull, I think you need to put thoughts into the rings."

"Makes sense." Thalia replied. "But how do we do it?"

I sighed. That's Thalia for you, always looking at the harder side of life.

"That's the tricky part. I believe you each have to sacrifice something, but I think you will get it back. The problem is that they didn't explain how to do it in the Harry Potter books. They only said that it was really hard, and stuff like that." Annabeth replied.

"What do we have to sacrifice?" Nico asked, while taking another dose of nectar.

"Well, I think something that something that someone important gave you." Annabeth replied.

"Wait, I want to save the world and everything, but I don't want to destroy something really important to me!" Thalia said concededly.

Again I sighed because it was typical Thalia to worry about something as stupid as that, when the world was at stake. "Do you think we could do it now Annabeth?" I asked timidly.

"Yes, you could. But before we do anything, we need to talk this over first!" Annabeth said quickly, as though she thought we would interrupt her. "I think I know why everyone is asleep."

"Really?" Nico said surprised.

"Yes, I think, because it happened right after Percy sacrificed Bessie, that Kronos put everyone asleep to torture them. The only reason why we aren't asleep is because Bessie's power didn't mean much to us, and he figured we were a lost cause."

"But then why is the rest of the camp asleep?" I asked.

"They are asleep because he is trying to get them to help him rise again. He knew we were lost causes, so he just let us stay awake."

"Oh my gods, that titan never gives up does he?" Nico said jokingly.

"No he doesn't!" Annabeth said seriously.

"So, is that all you wanted to talk to us about?"

"No, we also need to discuss…" Annabeth cut off, and grabbed her throat. It looked like she was chocking.

"Annabeth!" we all screamed.

I jumped up, and ran over to her. She was blue and turning gray. "What do I do?" I said panicking.

"I don't know! I only know how to fight monsters!" Thalia said, also panicking. She picked up the nectar and ambrosia, and fed some to Annabeth.

She had been very close to losing consciousness, but the god food saved her. I laid her head on the ground, and Thalia elevated her feet. She gasped for breath, but once she had recovered, she looked around at us.

"What in Hades happened?" Nico asked, looking as white as a ghost.

"Do you remember the prophecy?" Annabeth asked, while gasping for breath.

"Yeah." We all said. Where she was going with this I had no idea, but I had learned long ago to question Annabeth.

"Well, it said a daughter of Athena will help from day to day. I guess the meant the very literally, because I can only tell you one thing per day!" She replied, while still struggling to get enough air.

"Oh goodie!" I said sarcastically.

"This will be fun!" Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"Does that mean we can't do the Horcrux thing today?" Nico asked.

"Yes, because you won't know how to do it." Annabeth replied.

"So is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"Yes, you need to think about what you are going to sacrifice. It's the most important part." She replied.

***

I was sitting on my bed in my cabin, and I was deep in thought, with my mind was blurred.

I sat staring at the contrast of colors on the wall, and the many metal objects in the room, that Tyson had made.

I couldn't decide what the most important thing to me was.

Was it the shield Tyson had made for me, the necklace Annabeth gave me, or the one thing that I used regularly; Riptide.

I figured it was Riptide, but then again, was it really that special?

_Yes it is! _I thought myself.

_Really? _I thought again.

_Oh course it is! It is the first thing you used to defeat a monster. _

Wow, I was actually having a fight with myself.

I needed to think just a little bit longer.


	6. Stranger

**Hi readers of Fanfiction. I am going to Disney for three days tomorrow, and (to my great displeasure) we are not bringing a laptop. So this will be my last chapter until at least the fourteenth. I am not going to tell you what this chapter is about, so you will just have to read it! However, I am going to try REALLY hard to describe everything REALLY well! Tell me how I do by…REVIEWS!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Stranger**

"_Percy, you have to choose!" A figure of Annabeth said._

"_Yes hero." Said an oily voice from somewhere below us. _

"_What do you mean? What do I have to chose?" I said in a panicked voice._

_Annabeth stared to walk towards me and she stuck her hand out to stroke my check. Her hand was cold, but soothing. I looked down at my sneakers, to avoid embarrassment, and when I looked up Annabeth was gone. In her place stood my mother. She was wearing a black cape: the kind the dead wear when going into the underworld. She had a small but welcoming smile on her face, and she too was caressing my check. _

"_Mom?" I said curiously._

"_Yes sweetie, it's me! The answer to both things is me." she said, looking down at me, as though she was looking right through me, all the way to my heart. _

"_I don't understand!" I said feeling Seaweed Brainish. _

"_You will not until later. I am only here to say hello before I have to go." _

_For a couple of seconds I stared at her, and thought of all the questions I needed to ask, but she cut me off._

"_I must go. I have many things to do. Good bye sweetie." She said, before turning around and going in the other direction, toward infinite darkness. _

"_No wait!" I yelled after her, but I mine as well have been screaming at a book to read itself. She didn't look back, but just kept walking until the last thing I saw was the swish of her hair in the distance. _

_At first I stood there, looking after my mother who had long since disappeared. I had made up my mind a split second after my body decided what to do: I ran after her, I needed to find out what was up._

_I ran as fast as I could but my body didn't want to move. It was like I was being sucked into a whirlpool of time: slow, and unbearable. _

_I kicked and screamed but all that it resulted in was mental soreness. I tried and tried, but it was me against the world. _

_With one last mighty kick, I broke through of the spell._

My eyes jerked open. I was now wide awake, and scared. For some reason, dreams had found me, even when Kronos was supposedly torturing everyone who was in an unbreakable sleep.

I whipped the beads of sweat off of my face that had appeared there during my dream.

I looked outside, and I saw that it was as dark as night out there…because it was night. I guessed it was about three in the morning.

I tried to go back to sleep, but after ten unsuccessful minutes, I decided to get up.

I swung my legs out of bed and I pulled on some sweatpants, and an orange Camp Half-Blood tee-shirt, and walked out of cabin three.

It was unconventionally quiet with the lack of Harpies, and tree nymphs as I began to slowly walk towards the beach.

I walked along the grassy plains, until I saw the water. Immediately a feeling of calmness came over me, as I watched the waves crashing against the bank.

As I got even closer to the water, I picked up a stone. It was smooth, flat, and cold.

I was about thirty meters away from the edge of the bank, but a tree was blocking my view of most of it. I chucked the stone over the tree, and I heard a soft pang as it hit the water.

With a satisfied smile, knowing that my throw was accurate, I walked around the tree and found myself face to face with a knife.

_Oh carp! _I thought as the knife cut into my neck, making a small bead of blood fall to the ground. _Who in Hades was this stranger? _


	7. Break the Ice

**Hi everyone! I'm back! Now you will find out who the mysterious person is. I really don't have much to say, so R and R please!**

**Disclaimer: Do you really think I own PJO? **

**Break the Ice**

"Who are you?" I asked, while the dagger pressed deeper into my skin. Panic and confusion were both setting in. the panic; a knife was digging into my neck. Confusion; how had someone gotten into camp, and how were they awake?

"What's it to you?" the person replied in a familiar female voice.

"Annabeth, it's me, Percy!" I said relieved that it was just Annabeth.

"Percy…oh sorry!" she said, removing the dagger from my flesh. "What are you doing out here?"

"What are you doing out here?" I asked, throwing the question back to her.

At first she looked down at the ground, and didn't say anything, but then she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Kronos was in my dreams again. He…he…he showed me visions." She said with a shudder, and then looked at the ground again.

I thought about my dream, but decided that it was Annabeth who needed my help now. I lifted her chin, and made her look me in the eye. "What happened?" I asked, while sitting on the soft, cool sand.

"Well," she began, sitting beside me, "I was being dragged into Tartarus, and you and Grover were there too, only you were laughing. Thalia was standing next to Luke, who was somehow alive, and they were talking to me, and showing me visions of myself: Me running, and me dead, and then me ruler of Earth. Then, when I thought you were coming to help, you and Grover pushed me into Tartarus. Then I woke up."

"Annabeth," I said pulling her close so that her head was on my chest, "you know we would never betray you. It was most likely just a dream to torture you. I had one too, but mine made no sense." At that moment, I hated Kronos more than anything. Why would he put those lies into her thoughts?

"What was it about?" Annabeth said nestling closer to me.

I told her my dream, start to finish, and then waited for her to say something.

She stayed still for some time, and I could almost hear her brain working to figure out the puzzle. "Percy, I think it's best not to worry. It was probably just Kronos being Kronos. Don't worry." She said, giving me a reassuring smile. This time however, her smile didn't reassure me. it only made me more worried.

"I know. Kronos has his ways of doing things, and I don't plan to get in-between them. I only hope that we find a way to wake everybody up soon. I'm starting to get worried. What if we can't wake them up? I mean, will we live forever, or will Earth just become an uninhabited planet? What do you think?" I said, looking down at Annabeth.

That's when I noticed she was asleep, asleep on my lap, in the middle of the night, sitting in the sand by the sea… I followed her example.

***

When I saw the sun shine through my eyelids, I figured it was time to wake up.

Stretching out my arms, I noticed that Annabeth hadn't woken up yet. She looked quite comfortable with her head on my chest, and her golden hair sprawl everywhere. I really didn't want to wake her up, so I carefully lifted her head, and set it on the grass beside me. I then got up, and dusted my sweatpants off. However, my slight movements had woken Annabeth up.

She looked up at me and smiled. "What's up Seaweed Brain?"

"Nothing, Wise Girl. What about you?" I said, while starting to walk towards the Dining Pavilion.

"Well, um…" she began while getting up and following me, "did we stay out all night?"

"Yeah." I said blushing slightly. Urgh! Why not just leave the moment alone? Now I'm embarrassed.

"Ok, just wondering." She said, also blushing.

"Um, do you want to go get some breakfast or something?" I said, trying to break the ice.

"Sure!" she said, obviously glad we had moved to a different conversation.

I grabbed her hand, and together we walked towards the Dining Pavilion.

***

"Thank you all for coming. We need to discuss…_things._" Annabeth said, as everyone except for Thalia, gathered around the unused camp fire.

"Why are you talking so formal?" Nico asked while chewing on his nails, unconcerned.

"No reason, but we need to discuss the sacrifice." Annabeth said, suddenly very seriously.

"So how is everyone?" Thalia said, emerging from the kitchen, laden with snacks.

"What!?" Annabeth said, giving her a look as though she were crazy.

There's another typical Thalia moment. She just doesn't understand feelings and stressful times.

"Geeze! Everything was so tense; I was just trying to break the ice!" Thalia said in a dignified tone, wearing an appalled face that I had to laugh at.


	8. Into the Fire

**Hello! I'm sorry that I didn't update yesterday: I am sick and I had to rest, and my school starts on Monday…*gasp!* Crap! Now I'm sad. I have no idea how often I am going to be able to update with my new schedule, considering I'm going into 6****th**** grade. However I will try to update as much as possible. Anyway I hope this chapter doesn't make you sad if it's horrible….Ok on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything…got it?**

**Into the Fire**

"Ok…" Annabeth said, obviously thinking that Thalia was very strange. "Like I was saying, we need to discuss the sacrifice. Have you all decided what you will be sacrificing?"

"I'm sacrificing my sword." Nico said.

"I'm sacrificing, to my great despair, my spear." Thalia said, with a grim expression, as though having to give up something for the sake of others was just too unbearable.

"I'm sacrificing…um…Riptide." I said, even though my brain hadn't really come to that decision; it was almost like someone else had acted for me, but I didn't ponder it much.

"Wait, you're all giving up your swords!" Annabeth said bewildered.

"So what?" Thalia said, looking annoyed that Annabeth had even thought that her act of "kindness" was not genuine. "And mine isn't a _sword_, stupid. It's a spear. There is a difference you know." **(A/N: Haha Storm-Brain. I just had to add that.)**

"Well…never mind." Annabeth said, hastily turning back to Nico and me. "Well, first I am going to light the fire, and then you are going to throw your swords in. Now please don't call me crazy, but…then you have to jump into the flame as well." Annabeth said sheepishly.

"Um…no thanks!" Nico said loudly, darting his eyes from side to side, as though looking for someone to shout, _April fools!_

"Yeah, nice suggestion. But no thanks!" Thalia said sarcastically, determined to win this fight.

"Shut up and listen to her! Has she ever been wrong? If we are going to save the world we need her help…which she can only give once a day I might add!" I said in a fierce voice. I looked over at Annabeth, and I saw that she was giving me an extremely grateful look.

Everyone else seemed to be at a loss of words, so I looked at Annabeth, folded my hands in my lap, and told her to continue.

"Well, after you jump in the flame, if I have this figured out correctly, the ring will turn to ashes, along with your swords. Then the ring will reform, and you will have to put it on your finger. To put some of your soul into the ring, you must think ONLY of your swords as you put it on your finger. You will know if you succeeded if the ring glows red." Annabeth said, taking a deep breath, because she had been talking fast, hoping no one would interrupt her.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked. I sure hadn't ever heard of any of this.

"I've been doing as much research on ancient history as possible. There are some legends that talk about sacrifices like this."

I just nodded.

"When will we get our swords back?" Nico asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Well, I believe your ring will _be _your sword. Just like Percy's ring, I think it will be able to morph from a ring to a sword. And, like Nico had said a while ago, it can be used as an empathy link, and a transporter."

"What do you mean by _transporter_?" Thalia inquired.

"Well, if this ring thing comes out correctly, the rings will serve as a three-way empathy link. It will also _transport _all of you to the same spot." Annabeth said.

"Wicked!" Nico said, acting like the thirteen year old he should be, his face alight with excitement, even though it was a tense time.

"Are you ready?" Annabeth said rather nervously.

We all nodded, feeling apprehensive, and looked at Annabeth for instruction.

She carefully lit the hearth, and stepped back to watch the flames rise.

The red and orange flames seemed to jump out at us, hoping to lick human flesh. Thalia came to be in the middle of me and Nico so that we were on the ends.

We each looked at each other, and then threw or battle weapons into the blazing fire.

At first nothing seemed to happen, but then the fire turned a bright blue, black, and green all at once. It only took me a few seconds to realize it was the color of all three of our eyes. **(A/N: Nico's eyes are black right? Oh well they are for my story!) **

We started to walk forward. "One, two, thr-"I began, trying to countdown.

"I can't do it!" Nico whined, interrupting me.

"Nico, we have to. Please." Thalia said, looking at him with forceful eyes.

Sighing, he turned to me and waved his free hand at me, signaling me to start the countdown again.

"One, two, three," I shouted. Before jumping, Nico, and Thalia looked at each other one last time, and jumped into the fire.


	9. You

**Ok…I am so sorry for not updating! I have been busy with school and all, but I tried to make this chapter really good! Thanks bobaro785 for your suggestions! Hope you like this chapter, and review please!**

**Disclaimer: GR! I hate doing this every time! No I own anything!**

**You**

Together we jumped into the fire.

As soon as we stepped foot in the flames, I knew it wasn't a normal fire. The flames were cold, and wrapped around my body, taking on my shape. The flames were almost solid…in fact I could hold them. Everywhere I looked I saw sea green; the color of my eyes. Through the thickness of the flames I saw Nico and Thalia looking around in awe.

From a place far away, I heard Annabeth say to throw our rings in. I did as I was told, and it immediately turned to ashes, dropping into the pit of coal and fire. I also saw my sword at the bottom disenagrate.

Almost as soon as it was gone, the ring came floating back up so that it was eye level with me. As I slipped it onto my finger I began to think of Riptide; all the battles it had won for me, and just everything about it. I shut my eyes, concentrating as hard as possible.

***

When I opened my eyes I was lying on some dewy grass beside a hearth. I tried to lift my head but it felt like it weighed a million pounds. I let out a groan of agony, which made a figure appear over me. She had stormy gray eyes, and golden hair. I thought she looked sort of familiar, but I wasn't really sure who she was.

"Percy!" the girl said in an overly-exited voice. She threw her arms around me, and I pushed her away.

"Um…who are you?" I asked uncertainly.

"W-what!" she said, with a wild look in her eyes. "I'm Annabeth; I've known you for five years, and I'm your girlfriend!"

"Annabeth?" I said, trying the name out on my tongue.

Beside me another groan was let out by a girl who looked about sixteen with raven black hair and electric blue eyes. She looked around wildly, and locked eyes with me. She too looked very familiar, but I couldn't pin down how, or the name.

"Thalia!" Annabeth yelled, and she ran over to her, and crouched beside her."Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. Annabeth…what happened?" the girl named Thalia said in response.

"Well, as soon as you put the rings back on your fingers, you were effulged in fire. Then it sort of spit you back out and you weren't even scratched. I think it worked though because the rings were shining a really bright red, but I'm not really sure. You have only been out for about five minutes, but I gave you nectar and ambrosia anyway." The girl named Annabeth said. She talked very fast, like she was in a hurry to get the words out.

"Oh look, Nico is waking up!" Thalia said suddenly, looking at a boy who was obscured from my vision.

"W-w-what happened?" the boy said groggily.

While the blonde haired girl helped the boy into a sitting position, I got a closer look at him; he was olive skin, and black eyes. He looked about fourteen, but on a second glace, his face looked too young to be fourteen, maybe thirteen.

"Where's Percy?" the boy asked the girls.

"Um…well…he doesn't seem to remember anything!" the blonde haired girl said, on the verge of tears.

"What!" Thalia screeched. She got up, walked over to me, and slapped me across the face.

She left my face with a red mark, and my face burning. I didn't say anything though, because I didn't even know the girl, and I didn't want to yell at a stranger.

"I have no idea what to do! I don't think he remembers anything. The books never said anything about memory loss!" Annabeth exclaimed. She walked over to me, and looked me up and down. Her stare up kind and gentle, but it also had a wild look about it. She looked _very _stressed out.

"Who are you?" I said suddenly, not being able to take the stress.

"Oh Percy, I'm Annabeth, that is Thalia, and that is Nico." Annabeth said indicating to her and the other two.

"Who is Percy?" I said curiously.

"You are!" Thalia said angrily. Clearly she was mad at me for no apparent reason. "What all do you remember?"

"Um…well I remember being in some sort of fire. Oh, where is my mom, Sally Jackson?"

"You remember your mom?" Nico said, befuddled.

"Yeah, I just don't remember you…" I said, with a feeling of dread kicking in.


	10. No Air

**The first thing I need to say is…I'm so sorry! I haven't updated in forever! But I had a REALLY bed writers block, and it was my first week in middle school and all that stuff. Now this chapter is very important! But I don't want to say anything so just go ahead and read it!**

**Disclaimer: *sigh* I don't own anything.**

**No Air**

Over the next few days, Thalia, Nico, and Annabeth tried as hard as they could to retrieve my memory. However, it didn't seem to have any affect. Annabeth was quite sure it was Kronos's way of torturing me; however, I couldn't help but feel that something had gone horribly wrong while trying to transfer my soul into the ring.

It seemed that I could remember everything about being a "normal" kid, but everything that had to do with being a "demigod," I had forgotten. However, the way my friends were jogging my memory, I knew most of what had happened in my demigod life.

Hour after hour we sat in what apparently was my cabin. There we went over countless events that I never would have guessed I had done. Sometimes Annabeth would bring a thick book into my room, and read so fast it made me dizzy to look at her eyes.

If I had learned one thing that was extremely important, it was not to bother Annabeth while she read a book.

_Flashback_

_I smiled slightly at Annabeth who sat on my bed, staring intently at a book that was in her hands. He eyes moved at a rapid speed, and every five seconds she turned a page. _

_I was quite curious to know what she was reading so I walked over to her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. _

_She turned to look at me with a fierce look in her eyes. Very slowly, in a tone of forced politeness, she said: "Yes Percy?" _

"_Um…well…um…" I said in reply, backing away from her in fear._

"_Did you seriously just interrupt me when I was trying to figure out why your memory is gone? What is your problem? I'm just trying to help you! Do not interrupt me!" she said while standing up, and looking me right in the eye. _

_By the time she was done, I had run out of the room in fright._

_End flashback_

I shuddered thinking about that day, and I quickly turned back to Thalia and Nico who were not really doing anything besides staring into space. I too started to stare into space, and I soon found myself asleep, and having a nightmare.

_I was standing in a cold room, and it was so dark I couldn't even see my hand when it was right in front of me._

_In the distance, a faint light was approaching me. I quickly backed away, but as the figure got closer I saw it was my mother. I ran to her, and she hugged me hard. "Percy dear," she whispered in my ear, "again I cannot stay long, but you must know that I am the answer!"_

"_Mom what does that mean?" I said. Why did she always confuse me in my dreams?_

"_I am the choice!"_

"_But what in Hades does that mean?" I said getting frustrated. _

"_It means you have to let go." She said quietly, while pulling away from me, and walking towards the endless hall. _

"_NO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I began to chase after her, but I wasn't even able to move. I stopped and began to scream her name over and over again, but she either didn't hear me, or didn't want to turn back. I started trying to run again, and finally I broke through of the curse, and I was able to run!_

I opened my eyes, and I noticed that Annabeth was looking at me in a very concerned way.

"Oh Percy!" she said while throwing her arms around me in a hug.

"What happened?" I asked, in a choked voice, but not because I was sad or anything…just because Annabeth had me in such a tight embrace that I couldn't breathe.

"You were screaming your head off and saying that your mom was the choice! What does that mean?" Annabeth said, sitting next to me on my bed.

"I have no idea! It's driving me insane!" I said, pulling out a lock of my hair in frustration.

"Percy," Annabeth said cautiously, "what exactly happened in your dream?"

While I told her my dream, her face slowly changed from confused to worried.

"Why, what does it mean?" I said, as soon as I was done.

"Percy," she said in an overly stressed voice, "right now, I don't wanna think about it."

"Well that's extremely helpful!" I said, getting very angry. Did anyone even _want _to help me?

"Fine, I'll tell you! But please, don't be mad at me!" she took a very deep breath before continuing. "Percy, your mom…your mom is going to die."

At that point…I had no air.


	11. Promise

**I am so so so so sooooo sorry I haven't updated in forever! I have been so busy! I had a soccer tournament and of course school. I will try to update more frequently. Anyway…I'm every more sorry that I left you with an evil cliffe. I never said this story had a happy ending. There will be deaths! I am warning you now THERE WILL BE DEATHS! Now with that happy thought…on with the story, and review please! **

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't even make me write this! **

**Promise**

I didn't remember lying down in bed, I didn't remember dreaming, and I just didn't remember anything.

I was numb.

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining through my window. It reflected perfectly off the mirror, creating a perfect rainbow. I slowly, as if walking through honey, I walked over to my dresser and grabbed a drachma. I threw it into the rainbow without even praying to Iris. Apparently she was in a giving mood, because, without me even saying who I wanted to talk to, my mother appeared.

She was sitting at the table talking to Paul Blofis, and it looked like they were discussing something serious.

"Mom!" I shouted at her.

She whipped her head around to look at me with a serious expression. "Percy!" she hissed. "What are you doing?!"

"Um…does Paul know yet?" I said, staring apprehensively at my mother's boyfriend.

"No!" she said, looking positively faint in apprehension.

"Sally, Percy," Paul said looking from my mother to me, "I have a confession to make. I'm a half-blood." He said.

"What!" my mother and I said, in disbelief, at the same time. After all this time, Paul was a half-blood too? No way!

"Yeah, sorry that I didn't tell you, I wasn't positive that Percy was a half-blood, so I dint want to say anything. But now, I know you are." He said with a chuckle.

"Good point." My mom said. She was taking the fact that her boyfriend was a half-blood quite well. "Now, Percy, do you think you'll have time to come to the wedding?"

My heart sank when she said that, and I couldn't look her in the eyes. However, my mom was smart, and noticed that I wasn't saying anything.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked in a worried tone.

"Um…nothing." I said, quickly trying to look pleased.

"Percy, I know I'm destined to die."

My heart froze, and my mouth closed and opened again like a fish. How on earth did she know she was going to die!? How long had she known? There were a million questions buzzing around in my head, but she answered them all for me.

"Percy did you really think Chiron wasn't updating me on _everything! _Part of the prophecy that he received about you, had me in it, he just didn't tell you. I'm sorry sweetie, but I've known for a few years. I have been arranging everything! Paul knows as well, so we already arranged the wedding to happen in three days!"

All I could do was stare at her. She had known she was destined to die and yet she was speaking to me so calmly.

For the first time in five minutes, Paul spoke, "Percy, you know I will take care of you when…when…well, when I need to." He said, while blinking very hard.

It was quiet for a few minutes while I contemplated everything I had just heard. In this short conversation, I learned as much as my head could take in.

"Percy, I need you to promise me something!" my mother said urgently, waking me from my thoughts.

"What?" I said, without looking at her.

"When Chiron told me I was destined to die, he told me there was a chance that I wouldn't. He said that if three heroes gave their lives for me, I would live."

I couldn't speak. There was a chance that my mom would live, but it would come at a cost…a cost of three lives.

"Percy! Promise me that you won't let me live!" my mother said in a stern tone that I had never heard her use before.

"I…" I began but I was cut off.

"Please deposit one more drachma." Said a cool, female voice, from inside the rainbow.


	12. Sorry

**I'm trying, I'm trying! I'm trying to update faster. I would have updated yesterday, but I got a three hour writing block, and it delayed me! Now, I forgot to mention in the last chapter that Paul is a son of Athena, as he is a teacher. Well, this is a sort of sad chapter so please review!**

**  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything…why, did you think I did?**

**Sorry**

I'm really not sure how long I sat staring at the mirror; all I know is that I was thinking. When my mom had said that three heroes could give up their lives for her, my mind went straight to the prophecy: _a choice will come from in the heart so deep. _ I couldn't help but to think that maybe, in the end, I would end up making a very important decision…that I might end up regretting.

Subconsciously, I crawled back into bed. Pulling the scratchy sheets over my head, I dug myself deep into the bed. I don't really remember how long I stayed in bed and thought about all that was wrong with my life, but when I opened my eyes again, the sky was dark, and the stars were twinkling. I tried as hard as I could to go back to sleep, but it was not working.

Not sure what else to do, I threw the covers off, and I got out of bed. Just out of habit, I reached for my pen, only to remember that my sword was now the ring that was on my ring finger. I touched it, and felt that it was burning hot. I examined it more closely, and I saw that something was happening to it; it was transforming.

I wasn't sure what to do, so I just watched it. I blinked quickly, and when I looked at my ring again, the two eyes were gone from the skull, but my sword was in my hand.

I threw the blade from hand to hand, and I noticed that it hadn't changed at all. The blade was still weighted correctly, and the celestial bronze still had the glow about it.

Still examining Anaklusmos, I walked towards the door, and stepped outside. The wind blew at my face, and the leaves rustled. The night was quiet, and serene. The moon reflected off of the lake so it looked like the water was as white as silk. Since there was no one, and nothing, besides me, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico, my entire surroundings were undisturbed. Nothing popped out of the bushes, nothing stared at me with glowing eyes, and nothing made a ripple in the water, except Annabeth…wait, Annabeth!

I ran to the water's edge to get a closer look, and I saw that Annabeth was doing flips in the water, except I didn't really think it was Annabeth. I called her name, and she stopped, and came up to me.

Her skin wasn't wet, but it had a shiny look about it. Her golden hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she wore a beautiful smile…but I knew it wasn't really Annabeth. Somehow I knew it was the same river spirit that had talked to me in Mississippi River so many years ago. She didn't talk to me, she just put a piece of crumpled up paper in my hand. She then turned around, and dove back into the ocean.

Wait, I thought to myself. How could the river spirit be awake? I t was a magic creature…wasn't it?

I was very confused about what had just happened, but I didn't dwell, I just sat down on the closest rock, and opened the piece of paper.

It read:

_Dear Perseus,_

_I have to tell you something of deepest importance. _

_Your mother is destined to die, but you must know that if she dies, I will die as well. _

_When we sired you, I took a great risk so that she would always be safe; I gave her my protection. She is my life line, and I am hers. _

_I truly do not know why I am telling you this, but by the time you will have read this, it is prophesied for everyone but you, Thalia, Annabeth, and Nico to be asleep. Well, that is to say every demigod, and magical sprit, will be asleep. That means that your mother will be awake. If you wish to, you could call her, but I am afraid she may tell you something that I do not wish for you to know because, I know what your fatal flaw is, and I am afraid you will do what she says, even if she says not to do so. (_**A/N: I'm sorry for that huge run on sentence, I wasn't sure how to break it up.)**_ I do not believe you should do so either, but I do wonder what will happen if you don't. _

_As you are very bright, you must be wondering how the river spirit brought you this letter. Well, she is just your imagination, or an image that your mind created. Really, the letter just floated to the right place, as I intended it to. _

_I am sorry that if you believe I have been a bad father, I know I have. But I have always tried to do what's best for you, and sometimes that involved doing nothing. _

_I will continue to watch over you, not as a god, but as a father. _

_As you may know, monsters do not die, but they fade. I will not die, but just like the Pan, I am going to put my soul into you. You will be even more powerful, but I know you would only ever use your power for good. _

_Please do not be too sad while reading this, in fact the only reason I am telling you this is because as soon as you figure out how to wake us all up, your mother and I will be dead. _

_I know your mother's new husband will take care of you, as he is a son of Athena. _

_Please try to understand that your mother and I have only ever wanted the best for you, and we never intended to leave you like this. However, the fates are cruel, and they decided to make life hard for all of us. _

_Do not dwell on the past in sad memories, but remember the good times. Again, I am sorry. _

_Your father, Poseidon _


	13. Missery Business

**I still feel very bad for not updating sooner, but I didn't have time. I don't get home from school until 4:30, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to leave right away to go to soccer. The rest of the days I either have homework, writers block, or I'm working on the chapter. Since I cannot update regularly anymore, I have been trying to make the chapters even better….Oh I have a really quick funny story: so I'm in school and my teacher said we'll be writing an expository essay. She said not to expect to get a good grade, because we are out of practice. I was thinking the whole time; yeah right! I wrote ALL summer! So I'll show my teacher and get the highest grade! Now on with the story, and review please! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I won't ever own anything. **

**Misery Business **

**P.S. I know I already had that chapter title for a chapter in My Choice but I wanted to use it here too. **

I stared and stared at the piece of paper in my hand. I reread it at least fifteen times, hoping that the words would change more to my liking. However, just as my father had said, the fates were cruel and they didn't want me to have my way. My heart was breaking into pieces. I was going to be an orphan. I went to only having a mom, then to finding out who my dad is, and now, I am not going to have any parent at all.

It's odd how my father goes from not writing me a letter with over five words, and then I get an entire letter explaining _everything! _His distantness had bothered me at times, but it was even more awkward to receive a _huge _letter from him.

His letter confused me to the point that my brain would explode. He wasn't final on anything! He seemed to be talking about the sacrifice of three demigods for one person; however the cards had changed; now it was one mortal and one god! Now I was clueless. Not only would I be left as an orphan, but the world would be left without a god of the sea.

All in all, I stood by the edge of the sea, with the foamy water crashing repeatedly over my feet for over an hour. That entire time, I stared at the letter. I'm not exactly sure if I was thinking about what I had read, or if I was in some sort of trance. However, at around 7 o'clock, a warm hand landed on my shoulder. I didn't react, I just stood still.

"Percy?" the voice I knew to be Annabeth's said uncertainly.

I spun around to see her, and her face fell. At first I wasn't sure why, but then I registered that my face felt very wet.

Wordlessly she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, just like she used to do before I had lost my memory. It was then that I realized that I had gotten my memory back after reading the letter. I let her hold me, while her blue shirt slowly got wetter and wetter.

After a few minutes, she broke the hug, and stepped back while holding onto my shoulders. Her startling gray eyes seemed to x-ray me, as if looking for the cause of my discomfort. Her eyes fell on my balled-up fist, and held out her hand. Obediently I dropped the paper into her open palm. While looking at me, she flattened it. Then she looked down, and with every passing moment her expression went from confused to miserable. After a few moments of silence, she took my hand, and led me into the dinning pavilion.

Nico and Thalia were sitting at one table, not speaking but eating something that Thalia had cooked up. They looked up at me when I arrived, and I sat down next to Nico. Annabeth sat down next to Thalia, and immediately began talking.

Most of the time I wasn't listening but I caught snippets of the conversation, like "Poseidon…die…Sally…choice…" my mind was too messed up with sorrow and confusion to take in anymore.

Annabeth seemed to understand what I was going through because she didn't address me personally, or ask me any questions.

When everyone's lips had stopped moving, I looked up from the spot I had been staring at, and saw that three pairs of eyes were all trained on me. "Yes?" I said in an unconvincingly calm tone.

"Well, Percy," Annabeth said, while she continued to stare at me, "we need to know about the conversation you had with your mom." She said in a soft but demanding tone.

I sighed and retold the conversation I had between me, my mom, and Paul.

Again Annabeth's expression changed from calm to misery.

"Oh Percy!" she said, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.

"Wow…um…I'm so sorry!" Thalia said softly. I guess it was hard for her to find the right words, but that coming from her was like a five page sympathy letter from Annabeth.

"I say we do it." Nico said quietly. If I hadn't seen him lips moved I wouldn't have thought he had said anything, however, he then he repeated it louder and then said, "I've had enough of this misery business!"

And then he left leaving the rest of us to think over what he had just said. Personally I agreed. It would put an end to all the misery, and Zeus knows we have too much misery in our lives.


	14. Dazed and Confused

**Oh man! I feel so bad for not updating! I've been really busy! This is like the first time I've been on the computer ALL week! Now, you might have noticed that my screen name changed, well, yes it did. I am now sports990 instead of percyrocksmysoxs. Guess what: I got a rat! And music5692 (or Keegan), I love the name so much, that I named my rat Sholeh!! So I said to all my friends that I named my rat Sholeh and they are like "what the heck!" so I said it meant fire in Persian, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Then again, most people think I'm insane for getting a rat but she is the cutest thing ever! Anyway, I had forgotten to mention that the reason that Paul was not asleep is because he hasn't been in contact with any monsters for so long. So his half-blood scent has worn off, so he really isn't a half-blood anymore. But anyway…on with the story!**

**Dazed and Confused **

Together, Annabeth, Thalia, and I trudged back to our cabins. I continued to contemplate what Nico had said, and my mind was reeling.

Everything I had learned was now completely messed up. My mother didn't want me to give up my life for hers, but she didn't know that if she died, Poseidon would fade. Poseidon seemed as confused as I was, and his letter made no sense to me, in fact, I was even more confused than before.

I crawled into bed, even though the sun had just risen to its highest peak in the sky. My eyes immediately closed, and I drifted off to dream.

_I was walking down a corridor with no ending, but there was a light at the end of my visibility. _

_I tried as hard as I could to get to it, but it would go even farther away, until it was gone from sight. _

_I broke into a run that surely wood have left me out of breath, but I knew my breath, and heart would only quicken with anticipation. _

_I ran and ran as fast as my legs could go, but it didn't seem to do any good. _

_Giving up hope, I turned around, and was nearly blinded, because the light had appeared directly behind me. _

_Somehow I knew who and what the light was, and I was not surprised to see a form of Zeus unfold from the light. _

_He looked me over, as though x-raying me and it was several minutes until he spoke. "Perseus, I hope you understand that I am not really here. It is a mere form of me, coming to talk to you while you are dreaming." He said._

_I nodded and said I understood._

"_As you most likely already know, you mother is marked for death. What you most likely don't know is why. Well, it is your father, Hades, and my fault. As you know, we made a deal that we wouldn't have any more children. With that deal, came a curse. The children we sired would lose a loved one. Nico lost Bianca, Thalia lost Luke, and you are going to lose your mother. The reason why everyone is asleep is because Kronos knows of this curse, and he didn't want you to know. If you were to give yourself up, along with Nico and Thalia, Poseidon, Hades, and me would become so strong that one of us could vanquish Typhoon as easily as stepping on an ant. You can probably see why Kronos would rather you remained ignorant of the curse and its aftermath. However, there is a flaw in everyone's plan; Poseidon is now connected to your mother, that is to say, if Sally dies, Poseidon dies as well. Poseidon knew not of the curse when they had you as a child, but he learned, almost immediately after you were born, of the curse. He then connected his life to Sally's, so now if they die, all of Poseidon's power would be passed to you. So now, Kronos is at a loss both ways. No one, including your father, really knows why he connected his life with Sally's, but he did, and it is irreversible."_

_I slowly took in all that Zeus had said, but I don't really think I fully understood everything he said. "Lord Zeus," I began apprehensively, "are you saying Thaila, Nico, and I should give our lives up?" _

_Zeus, who had been looking around the dark and empty room, slowly turned to meet my eyes. _

"_Perseus, what I am saying is; think. Think about everything you have learned as a half-blood, and before you knew you were a half-blood. Your fatal flaw is the key part, but this time, you may need to give into it."_

_I stared into his electric blue eyes, and I realized just how much the gods did for us. They make life difficult, make you work things out for your selves, but they are the reason everyone is here. _

I found myself looking up at my ceiling. The dream had seemed so real, and even though I knew it was just a dream, I knew that everything Zeus had said was right.

That left me even more dazed and confused.


	15. Hate How Much I Love You

**Hey yall! I have found that I can't update more than once a week, so again, I'm sorry. I have awesome news! I got the results back from my writing teacher for the first writing we did, and I got a 105!! I showed her!! Anyway…I'm glad you all liked the last chapter! If you are confused please, please, please tell me! I gave you a TON of information in one chapter, so I would understand! Now I know I have said this before, but there will be deaths, and you may not like them! However, I am going to ask you this in advance; don't kill me!! 'K, now on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I can't believe I still bother to do this! No I don't own anything!**

**Hate How Much I Love You**

I walked out into the blazing sun. It was at least 12 o'clock, and it was blisteringly hot. My sneakers crunched in the strew leaves covering the grassy surface. The trees in the distance swayed in the wind. The lake glistened like a thousand diamonds, and it contrasted perfectly with the sun, to make a perfect rainbow.

The scene was much to perfect to be the setting for my news. I wouldn't be able to tell everyone my decision, with the picturesque scenery. How would it be humanly possible to tell my friends that I was going to willingly give up my life?

Well, my decision had been made, but if Thalia and Nico were not going to do it, the whole thing would be ruined. However, I was positive about one thing; I would _NEVER_ force my friends to give up their lives.

I sat down on a big rock down by the edge of the water. The rock was cold and wet from the salt water, but it felt good to sit on. I wasn't really thinking about anything, but I began to gaze out into the water. Occasionally a fish would leap out of the water, causing a disturbance in the calm, blue water.

After a few minutes, I heard a branch crack behind me. I whipped my head around, and I saw Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico walking towards me.

I got up from my rock, and dusted my pants off. Wordlessly I walked over to them, and gestured for them to sit. They did, eyeing my suspiciously. Taking a deep breath, I began to speak but the words didn't come out of my mouth.

Thaila and Nico had said, "We're doing it."

I stared at them, unable to believe my ears. In turn, Thalia, and Nico were staring at each other, and Annabeth was looking between the two of them.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth said shrilly.

"I'm giving up my life for Poseidon and Sally." Thalia said calmly, while Nico and I nodded vigorously beside her.

"What!" Annabeth yelled, causing some birds in near trees to depart back into the sky.

"Annabeth," I said, while taking her hand, "we have to do this!"

"No, you don't!" she said so loudly, that the rest of us were forced to cover our ears, and yanking her hand from mine.

"Annabeth yes we do!" Thalia said, in the most forceful voice she could muster, while still wincing about her half deaf ear.

Annabeth turned to Nico impatiently, waiting for his reason to do this.

He quietly said, "Annabeth, we have to do this! It's the only way we can wake everyone else up, and make sure you all stay safe!"

"When did you all decide this?" she said, clearly looking for a loop hole.

"I had a dream." Thalia, Nico, and I said at the same time.

"Really?" Annabeth said, momentarily forgetting to be furious with us.

"Ya, Zeus explained everything to me. I'm still a little bit confused, but I understood most of it. Remember the prophecy? _A choice will come from in the heart so deep, or all will stay in an impenetrable sleep._" I recited easily.

"So you guys are completely serious about this?" Annabeth said, on the verge of tears.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

Without another word, Annabeth sprinted back to her cabin. I took off behind her, but I'm so slow that she had already bolted the door by the time I got there.

"Annabeth open up!" I said while raping on the door.

"No, I hate you!" furiously.

I started twiddling with the ring on my finger, while trying to think of what to say. Her words pierced me in the heart, but I had to get her to understand. Finally the right words formed, and out came, "Well I hate how much I love you!" I said quietly.


	16. Stop and Stare

**Yes! This is real! I'm actually updating again! Huzzah! K so…um…I'm sorry!!! I know you all hate me, but I am very tired of all those happy ending stories! Fanfiction needs some stories with some unhappy endings. PLEASE DON'T HATE Me!!! K so this is a PERCABETH chapter!!! Woot, woot! Please review! I'm trying to get like 200 reviews, so please, please, please help me out here! Now on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything. **

**Stop and Stare**

Slowly, the door creaked open, and out came Annabeth. Her eyes were bloodshot, and it looked like she had pulled out some of her hair; she looked beautiful to me. Her eyes looked me over, as though trying to figure out if I meant what I said. Finally she spoke. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I love you." I said confidently. I had never told her that I loved her in so many words, but I thought I had implied it. Apparently I hadn't.

She caught her breath, and stared at me with misty eyes. "Y-you lo-love me!" she stuttered.

"Yes, I love you so much!" I said. "I have never been surer about anything."

She ran to man and flung her arms around my neck, and I kissed her. I kissed her like I had never kissed her before. I felt like a king or even a god. (**A/N: for some reason I find that very funny! =D) **I just kept kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

The only reason we broke apart was because we couldn't breathe, and we were gasping for breath.

Annabeth looked at me with a blazing light in her eyes, and then she burst into tears.

I had _no idea what to do! _She just randomly started crying. I pulled her into my arms, and started rubbing small circles on her back. "What's wrong?" I whispered into her ear.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" she said while pulling away from me, and whipping her tears off. "I just can't stand the thought of losing you three! It would be _unbearable!" _she wailed.

"Annabeth, the reason why we are doing it is so that we can protect everyone! I _know _I wouldn't make a good god, but three unbeatable gods would be…well…unbeatable. You know that we only want to make the world better." I finished lamely. Crap, I really needed to work on my speeches.

"I know." She said, looking me straight in the eyes. It was hard to imagine that I would never see her sparkling grey eyes again. Never see her golden hair, or smell the cinnamon scent she always wore.

Against my own will, I started to choke up. My voice became constricted, and my eyes began to burn. I couldn't stand to cry, it made me feel weak. However, Annabeth noticed m sudden change in emotion, and she gathered me into her arms, and hugged me. The burning of my eyes increased, until I could no longer hold the tears that were yearning to fall.

By the time I released her, she had a wet spot on her shirt, and I had a wet spot on mine. But, neither of us cared.

She was about to walk into her cabin, but a thought occurred to me. I grabbed her wrist, and whispered something to her. Her face broke out into a grin that melted my heart, and she nodded.

I let go of her wrist, and she raced into her cabin, with a spring in her step. I followed her lead, and I was in my cabin, sooner than I thought possible. I grabbed my orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, and pulled on some denim shorts. I walked over to my mirror, and tried my hardest to flatten my hair. However, it seemed determined not to stay down, so I resorted to using my worst enemy; gel.

After a ten minute's effort, my hair was flat. I checked to make sure I still had on my ring, and the necklace that Annabeth gave me, and I ran down to the beach.

I started to do something, without realizing what; I was creating a throne. The waves, seaweed, and shells were coming together at my will, to create a beautiful throne. Testing my skills, I tried to make another one, and to my immense surprise, it formed, and stood next to the other one.

Feeling lucky, I grabbed some sand, and began to rub my hands together. The sand made a very sturdy chain that sparkled, and was surprisingly light. I also picked up the prettiest shell I could find, and I placed it on the ends of the "sand string" and the string snapped together to form a perfect necklace. It was like magic.

I heard someone coming from behind me, so I hid the necklace behind my back, and turned to face them.

All I did was stop and stare.


	17. I'll be There for You

**Hey! I know this is getting old but I'm sorry I haven't updated in like forever! I had soccer a TON of school work, and I've been reading the twilight books! I'm sorry. Well, I'm also sorry because I left you with a cliffe! I know; I'm EVIL!! Anyway I won't keep you from the chapter any longer, so on with the story! And please, please review!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, nothing is mine.**

**I'll be There for You**

Annabeth stood there in front of me, looking absolutely stunning! She wore a simple white tank top, and tan shorts. Nothing special, but she looked stunning. Her hair caught what was left of the setting sun, making it glow. It was almost like Edward Cullen glowing in the sun-I swear I only read the 'cause Annabeth made me! (**A/N: Yeah, so like I said I was reading the Twilight books for the first time for about a week, and they are amazing! They rocked!) **She was wearing a beautiful smile that made my heart stop.

"Annabeth!" I breathed. I just stared at her, and her smile faltered.

"Is something wrong?" she asked subconsciously, while flattening her shirt, and checking for stains.

"No!" I shouted urgently. "Everything is…perfect!"

"Oh," she said, while blushing as red as a tomato.

"Yeah…so…um…" I was _very _flustered. It was spur-of-the-moment that I decided to ask her to come to the beach with me, and she looked so beautiful that I was tongue-tied. Then I remembered the thrones that I had made. Realizing that we had missed dinner, I concentrated on the waves, and behind me, a table formed. Annabeth gasped audibly, and her eyes went wide.

"How…how…how the _heck _did you do that!" she said stunned.

"I'm not really sure, I kinda just happened when I was sitting." I said, embarrassed, but kinda pleased that she was impressed.

"That's incredible," she breathed.

"Thanks!" I said happily. Then, a great idea popped into my head.

"Hey, Annabeth?" I said.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Let's take a swim!"

She didn't reply at first, but then she smiled, nodded her head, and took off her shoes. She began to wade in the water, until I grabbed her wrist, holding her back.

"What?" she protested.

"That," I indicated to her feet in the water, "is not how I do it." I said while chuckling.

"Then how do you do it?" she asked while putting her hands on her hips. She looked so cute when she was stubborn.

Without answering her, I whistled three times, and a beating of wings sounded in the distance.

_What up boss? _Blackjack spoke in my mind.

_Annabeth and I are going to go for a little swim. Could you give us a lift to "the spot." _I asked him telepathically.

_Of course! _He responded, and kneeled down so we could climb on.

I lifted Annabeth up by the waist, and then clambered on after her. I got in the front for two reasons; one: I needed to steer. Two: I wanted Annabeth to hold onto my waist. Just as I hoped, Annabeth had a steal grip on me, and she leaned her head onto my back.

"Hold on!" I yelled, just before we took off, at seventy miles per hour, into the air.

Annabeth screamed into my ear, and tightened her grip on my waist.

The wind was fierce and messed up the gel in my hair, but I wasn't complaining. I was very comfortable on Blackjack, so I wasn't even holding on, I figured she needed reassured, so I started rubbing Annabeth's hands, so that she could calm down again.

It wasn't long before we were at my favorite spot, and Blackjack hovered twenty feet above the water.

"Why isn't he going down?" Annabeth said in a tone that suggested she really did know why we were hovering.

"We're jumping." I told her.

"Are you _insane_?!" She shrieked.

"It okay," I said in a soothing voice. I turned my body around- causing Annabeth to scream-to face her. "How about this; I'll jump first, and then I'll be in the water to catch you."

She nodded, and then took a deep breath. I leaped off of Blackjack, and landed in the water. The water would have been very cold, but my body didn't take in the temperature. I felt so alive in the water.

I looked up at Annabeth's frightened face, and smiled. "Come on, honey! You can do this! Remember, your Annabeth, not a maiden in distress."

That seemed to get her out of her trace, and into reality, because she looked down at the water and, without a warning, jumped.

Seconds later, she landed into the water, five feet away from me.

"Hey! I thought you said you would catch me!" she said while splashing me in the face.

"I didn't think you really needed me to." I said while shaking my hair dry. "But when you do, I'll be there for you."


	18. I'm Yours

**I have a very good excuse for not updating; it was my birthday on the 15****th****! (I'm now 12!) I got a laptop! Ya, so I had started this chapter a few days ago but I have exams so I've been studying, and doing projects and crap like that! So this is a total percabeth chapter! Ok, so I had 108 visitors for the last chapter, and I defiantly didn't get that many reviews! There's this one story for Twilight that had 700 something reviews one day, and the next day it had like 850! Why don't the PJO stories get that many reviews? So please, please, please review! **

**I'm Yours**

After we swam for a while, we got out of the water. In the middle of nowhere-really- was a rock formation. One reason why this was my favorite spot was because the rock was in the exact shape of Poseidon's trident. It made me feel like I was at home-or, my home in the ocean. The rock attracted a huge variety of fish, and sea creatures, so I often went under the water to talk to them. (**A/N: Wow! That sounds weird!!) **

Annabeth and I were sitting on the rock, looking up at the stars. She was trying to get me to recite the constellations, but I couldn't do anything but stare at her. The necklace I had made for her was digging into my leg, and was practically begging for me to give it to her. I for one didn't think now was the right time.

While I was staring at her, she just babbled on about the stars, and stupid science stuff that only children of Athena could possibly appreciate. I began to think about how much I would miss all of this, and how I hoped she wouldn't miss me. No matter how much I wanted her to be happy; I didn't want to picture her dating some other dude, and then getting…married. THAT WAS IT! I knew exactly how I could make sure Annabeth stayed happy, but still mine!

Quickly I mumbled an excuse to Annabeth, threw off my shirt, and jumped into the water.

I barely noticed all if the beautiful fish, and the coral reef. My mind was set on finding a pearl. I looked under every crevice, and corner to find an oyster.

After five minutes of searching, I found one. Inside, the pearl glistened like one thousand suns, and was very smooth. I quickly grabbed some sand from the ocean floor, and made a ring. Then I placed the pearl in the center, and the ends sprang apart to allow me to place the pearl there.

When everything was in place, I shot up to the surface, and landed agilely next to Annabeth. She gave me a weird look, but didn't press the matter.

I went on my back again, and looked up at the stars. Annabeth copied me, and snuggled closer to me, and I draped my arm around her shoulders.

"Oh my gods!" Annabeth said suddenly, sitting up, and staring at the sky. "A shooting star! Wow, it's so beautiful!"

"No you are." I said, while staring at her.

"Thanks," she said, blushing slightly.

I reached out to brush a stay stand of hair out of her face, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Annabeth," I began, while shifting my weight to my left knee, "will you marry me?" I pulled out the ring, and held it out for her to see.

Her eyes lit up, and sparkled, but she simply looked at me.

Feeling embarrassed, I put my head down, and dropped my hand with the ring in it.

However, I felt a hand lift my chin up. "Percy," Annabeth breathed, her face inches from mine, "I thought you said you weren't romantic? Of course I'll marry you!"

Instead of replying, I took her face into my hands and kissed her.

When we broke apart, I slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Oh almost forgot…" I said while I took the necklace out of my pocket, and handed it to her.

"Percy, where on Earth did you get the money for all of this?" she said, while gaping at the necklace.

"I made it….Is it worth a lot?" I said, while tilting my head to one side.

"You _made _this! Holy crap!" she said, with her eyes bugging out.

"Yeah."

"Wow! My fiancé's talented!"

"Why thank you!" I replied while taking an imaginary bow. I really liked the sound of "my fiancé!"

She didn't reply, but playfully punched my arm.

"So," I began, "You won't go dating anyone else?"

"No Percy," she said, looking me directly in the eye, "I'm yours."


	19. Authors Note

**Authors note: ** Ok 1. I hate when people copy me.

2. I don't like to copy people.

So now that you know that, I need to say that I **DIDN'T COPY **_**CRAYOLA MARKERS!! **_I PROMISE TO AND SWEAR TO EVERY GOD YOU HAVE EVER HEARD OF THAT I DIDN'T COPY! I started this chapter on like October 13th or something like that, and A Golden Autumn wasn't updated until October 15th. I had already written the first page, so, when I decided for them to get married was not a copy of what Crayola Markers did. And it really stinks 'cause,-I PROMISE I didn't copy- since it had already been done the day before, no one was really excited that I did it, and everyone thought I copied. (

Anyway, if you want to read a REALLY amazing story I recommend you read _A Golden Autumn. _And the first story _A Frosty Winter. _Crayola Markers is a fantastic writer, and I totally think everyone should read her stories.

Ok, so this isn't a real chapter, so I'm done. I'll try to update in a few days. D


	20. Kiss the Girl

**Hi! I'm terribly sorry for not updating sooner! I had soccer, volleyball tryouts for my school, and a science fair project-which is now going to county!-that took all weekend to do. This chapter is sort of sweet, but it's mostly dialog, not that much action. However, it is very long by my standards! This story will-unfortunately-be coming to an end soon, and I do not know when I will begin my next story. I plan to do maybe five or so more chapters. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and please, please, please review!! **

**Kiss the Girl**

It was Halloween night, and it was the best night of my life. It was the day I married Annabeth.

She wore a gorgeous gown! It was knee length, gold, and had tassels. I would take her over Aphrodite any day. It was a good thing the gods were sleeping because I think Aphrodite would have killed me if I ever said-or thought it for that matter-that out loud…

This may have been the best day ever, but one week ago was a very good day too.

_**Flashback**_

Annabeth and I were dried off, and looking for Thalia and Nico. Since Nico was sleeping in Zeus's cabin, we headed there first, and found them. They were both dead asleep, but we quickly shook them awake.

"What the Hades!" Thalia had shouted.

"Would you _please_ stop taking my father's name in vain?" Nico had complained, not upset that we had woke him up.

"No! Just tell me why the hell you're in our room…no wait! It's _my _room! Not yours, Nico. MINE! So get the hell out!" Thalia had screamed, throwing a fit.

"Why you-"Nico began.

"Oh my gods shut up!" I had yelled, while Nico and Thalia started cussing at the top of their lungs, and yelling at each other. "We have something to tell you!"

"Yeah, we're getting married!" Annabeth screamed!

Abruptly all the talking had stopped, and all eyes were on us.

"You're getting WHAT!" Nico yelled, while jumping up and down in excitement. He started cracking up, and fell to the ground in hysterics. "Well Percy, um..._good luck! _You are so going to need it!" Nico said, while bursting into unstoppable laughter again.

I had to jump in the middle of Annabeth and Nico, while Annabeth attempted to kill him.

Meanwhile, Thalia hadn't moved from her spot on her bed, and I think she had even stopped breathing.

"Thalia?" Annabeth had said cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Then she fell off of the bed; she had fainted.

"Holy sh-"Nico started, but Annabeth had clamped her hand over him mouth.

"Nico shut the Hades up!" Annabeth said frantically.

Just then, Thalia had popped up, and started screaming a stream on profanities.

"Holy crap Thalia, you scared us!" Nico yelled.

"I am so _pissed at you guys! _You're getting _married?! _Why didn't you tell us? And why are you doing it. Argh, just argh!" she yelled, and then started cussing again. "Oh, and you will _not _be making me wear a dress! Don't even think about it!"

_**End Flashback**_

I laughed aloud at the thought, and then composed my face into a serious one again. Thalia was coming around the corner in a white dress that stopped at her knees. It had sparkles all over, and she was wearing five inch heels, with straps that climbed up her calf. However, the look was marred by the glare on her face.

"Perseus Jackson," she began, while I cowered in fear, "why in the love of Zeus am I wearing a white freakin dress with freakin heels that could _kill _me?!"

"Well," I said, now forcing back laughter, "since the occasion is a wedding, you weren't going to be able to wear black jeans and a black shirt. So, white it is!" she really was quite funny when she's angry.

"I swear to the gods Percy, you are going to pay for this!" she said, giving me her most evil-and scariest-glare.

As she was walking away, Annabeth came around the corner, and complimented her dress. Thalia cussed quite badly before stomping away. It would have gone smoothly, had she not been wearing high heels, so she fell on her face first. It took every ounce of my self control to not roll on the floor laughing.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled, before she ran into my arms.

"You look beautiful," I whispered in her ear.

"Thank you!" she said, a blush creping onto her checks.

Then I kissed her. It wasn't a big kiss, but it felt perfect. This was the night she would truly be mine no matter what was going to happen.

"Hey!" Nico yelled. He was going to be the priest, so he had on a cape, and all the other attire priests have to wear. Although, the cape was actually a superman cape that he had packed when he was little, and had carried it everywhere with him. The only reason why I knew that was because I had walked in on him while he was "soaring" around the room in it. He almost killed me when he saw me standing in the doorway, cracking up. Good times, good times. (**A/N: I LOVE saying that!)** "I did _not _tell you to kiss the girl!"


	21. Forever and For Always

**Hi everyone! How's it going? I hope it's going good! Anyway, here is your wedding chapter!!! Huzzah!!!!! It's also kind of funny, but mostly cheesy. But hey, I love cheese! It's not very long, but like I said, it's cheesy. Well, I hope you like it, and review please! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the dialog, and story. And, yes, it sucks that I don't own the characters. **

**Forever and for Always**

I stood next to Nico, and waited for Annabeth to walk down the aisle.

First came Thalia, stumbling along, holding a bouquet of pink roses, and purple lilacs. She was smiling…or what I think was smiling. It looked more like she was passing gas, but whatever. At least she was trying to look cheerful. Although the only people here were her, Nico, Annabeth, and me, so she really didn't have anyone to impress.

At first I thought-miraculously- that she hadn't tampered with the outfit, but as I took a closer look, I noticed that she was wearing black sneakers with skulls, and bones on them. And, to finish off her "improvements" she was wearing a black bow at the top of her head.

So, all in all, I had expected more, and I was pleased that she hadn't done anything horrible to the dress.

However, I then saw a glint of gold. My eyes immediately turned in that direction and I saw my bride.

Annabeth was wearing a golden dress that stopped just above her knees. It wasn't anything special, but she looked amazingly beautiful. Her hair was curled gently, so that the curls rested on her shoulders and framed her face. She had on absolutely no makeup, but that was just the way I liked it. However, no dress, or hair could match the smile on her face. It practically lit her face up. Heaven must have been missing an angel.

The beautiful smile stayed glued onto her face, and she flowers she was supposed to be holding up, hung lazily at her side, because she had eyes only for me, just like my eyes were only for her.

"Ewwww!" Thalia said quietly to Nico, who was making gagging sounds.

I turned around and flicked them off_. _(**A/N: I'm sorry but I REALLY had to add that! It was like the perfect time!) **

Annabeth giggled, and walked to my side. I looked at her, and she looked at me. The look she gave me was as good, or better, than any kiss we had ever shared. The look was filled with love, and I would trade anything to be able to keep that look on her face permanently.

"Um, if you guys are done being disgusting, then can I get the preaching thingy over with? This cape is very itchy. I mean, I haven't worn it in forever!" I looked at Nico, giving him a questioning look, and his eyes were franticly telling me not to say anything about his "flying."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Annabeth said, in a slightly nervous way.

"Okay then," Nico began, clearing his throat, "do you Per-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Annabeth said, while taking my hand. "You _cannot _just jump right to the "I do's!"

"Well, what else am I supposed to say?" Nico whined.

"You have to do the vows first."

"What is _Zeus's _name are_ vows!" _Nico said, while putting on a dumb face.

"Oh Nico, move _over! _I'll do it." Thalia said, pushing him out of the way, and standing in front of Annabeth and me. "Perseus Jackson, do you swear to Zeus that-"

"No, no, no!" I said, frustrated. "I can't swear to _Zeus. _I have to swear to Poseidon. Then Annabeth will swear to Athena."

"Percy, are you insane! Poseidon doesn't do _anything _special! You have to swear to the king of the gods! Not the god of the water! I mean, come _on_!"

"Thalia, we have had this conversation before! I always win the argument! Poseidon is charge of three fourths of the entire _world! _Zeus is only in charge of the _sky. _Why do you keep saying that that is so amazing?"

"Well, for one, the sky gives people a form of transportation!"

"Do you mean on planes or death traps that crash and kill people? Oh wait, they're the same thing!"

"That's it!" Annabeth yelled in frustration.

I thought she was going to run away, but instead she said "I do," and kissed me. While we were kissing, I mumbled "I do," as well, so then it was official; Annabeth was mine, forever and for always.


	22. Live Your Life

**Well, here is your next chapter! Huzzah! It is mostly Percy talking. If I get two more reviews then I will have 200!! So, come on, and please review!!! My goal is 300!! Oh, and if you didn't read **_**My Choice, **_**I encourage you to read it, and review as well. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, nothing but the story is mine.**

**Live Your Life**

Annabeth and I were sitting on the bank of the water. The night was beautiful; every single star was out, the water was like ice, silky and smooth, and the air was crisp. Next to me sat the most beautiful girl in the world, and she was now my wife.

It was strange how good that sounded on my tongue. It felt like I was always meant to call her my wife, like it was meant to be.

Obviously the wedding was a little off, considering Thalia and I started to fight, but I honestly hadn't expected it to go perfectly. Of course, any night when I got to marry Annabeth was a perfect night.

Her head lay on my chest, and she held my hand. I stroked her hair, and I was deep in thought. How many nights did we have left together? How many times would I get to call her my wife? How long did I have to live? None of those questions were answerable then, and I truly didn't want them answered at all. I just wanted to live in the moment I was in, and enjoy every second of it.

While I was still staring at the stars, I heard Annabeths breathing slow down. She had fallen asleep.

Just like so many nights ago, I also fell asleep. However, I knew that that night was nothing like the time before. This time, she was my wife, and it felt right to stay out all night with her head on my lap, lying in the sand by the sea. (**A/N: in case you forgot, they fell asleep together outside in chapter 7.)**

"_Your time is near! Your time is near!" the water around me seemed to chant. _

_I was standing in a boat, with Thalia and Nico. By the looks of it, we were in the middle of the ocean, but it also seemed like my special place, with the rock of Poseidon's trident. _

_We were all silent, and it looked like Nico and Thalia were asleep. _

_I tried to walk over to them, but when I looked down, I was in quick sand. I tried to scream, and I was successful, except the chanting water drowned my scream out. _

_Then, the boat was overcome with water. I watched as Thalia and Nico disappeared, and then Annabeth replaced them. Again, I tried to move towards her, but then, Luke came out of the water. He grabbed her, and pulled her under the water._

"_Your time is near! Your time is near!" the water around me seemed to chant. _

Because my eyelids were burning, I opened my eyes. I was still on the beach, and Annabeth was still on my chest. My hair was more disheveled than usual, and my face was sweating.

It took me a few minutes to pull myself together, and to realize that I had had a dream. Nothing in it was real, and everyone was safe.

The one thing that bothered me the most was the chanting water. I was quite freaked out, mostly because I think I knew what it meant. I think it meant that my time on this planet was almost over. My life span was slowing ticking away. Like a boom ready to explode. (**A/N: Do you know the song **_**Got Money**_** by Lil' Wayne? Yeah, do you know when he says "cause b**** I'm the boom like tick, tick." That's what I was thinking about when I wrote that =D) **

I stared at Annabeth. There was no way I could possibly be lucky enough to have her as my wife.

Huh, ironic. I was thinking about how lucky I was, when my life was coming to an end, and I would never see my friends and family again. In an odd way though, I had served my purpose in life. I had helped people, and I was about to help them even more. I was not going to die in vain.

Just then, Annabeth's eyes opened. She rolled off of my chest, and onto the sand. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back, with surprising ease. I wasn't even pretending to be happy. I had done everything I could possibly do in life.

"Hi, Percy," Annabeth said, as she stood up. She extended her arm for me to take.

"Good morning," I replied, with a sly grin, while taking her hand.

However, she couldn't take my weight, and she feel down…on top of me.

We started laughing, and then I lifted my head up to kiss her.

"Oh get a _room_!" Thalia shouted from somewhere off to our right.

"Yeah guys, I'm gonna throw up…_again_!" Nico yelled to us as well.

"Just let us live our life!" Annabeth yelled back, but at the same time, she got up. I'll admit that I was a little bit disappointed.

"Oh, you can live your life, just please spare us our sanity! We don't want to see you living it, especially if it involves kissing!" Thalia said, as she reached us, with Nico tailing behind her.

As I stood up, and brushed the sand off of me, I thought about what Thalia had said about living your life. In a weird way, I _was _living my life. No matter how short it was going to be, I _was _living it.


	23. Everyday

**Hi!!! How's it going? I thought I would post this chapter in honor of thanksgiving eve! So, this is a chapter with more of a message. It has two flashbacks, and it's mostly Percy thinking. It looks long but that's only because I have like 10 one sentence paragraphs. Anyway, check out my new pole! Hope you like it, review please! **

**Disclaimer: No nothing is mine, except the story. **

**Everyday**

Ten days had pasted, and there had been no action at Camp Half Blood.

But then again, that was good. It meant that I was going to live a day longer.

Annabeth and I had been spending a lot of time together, and discussing things….She said that she didn't want to be without me at all. So, in other words, she wanted to die with me.

_Flashback_

"_Percy, I _can't _live without you!" Annabeth had said in a very serious tone._

"_Do you have any idea how clique that sounds? We aren't in that 'Twinight' book are we?"I said, joking around. This conversation was something I _did not _want to have._

"_It's _Twilight_, not 'Twinight,' and no! 'The Twilight Saga' is a piece of art in the world of literature!"_

"_I thought it was a book?" I had said, titling my head to one side._

"_Oh my gods! Yes it is a book, but it is an _amazing _book. Our life isn't amazing remember! You are about to die, and I don't want to live without you!" she had said, grabbing a fistful of my shirt, and yanking my closer._

"_I'm not going to let you throw your life away for me! You are going to live a long, happy life, and when you die, I'll be waiting for you." I said fiercely. Like I said, this wasn't a conversation I wanted to have!_

"_Now who sounds clique?"_

"_Annabeth, I really don't want to have this discussion! You are _not _going to kill yourself!" I said, while standing up, and turning in the opposite direction._

"_We'll see about that," I heard her mutter under her breath._

_End flashback_

That had happened about four days ago, and she hadn't brought it up since…because I hadn't given her a chance.

She keeps looking at me though. It looks like she's think of the best way to manipulate me…as only she can.

Whenever I wasn't talking to Annabeth though, I'm talking to Thalia.

Since she was a girl…or so she says…I needed her opinion on Annabeth.

_Flashback_

"_Thalia?" I had said nervously, while entering her room. _

"_What?" she had answered sharply._

"_I need your opinion on a rather…delicate situation."_

"_Oh gods." She had muttered. "What situation would that be?"_

"_Well," I had begun. The words all came out very fast and I had given her credit for understanding what I had even said. "AnnabethwantstokillherselfandIdon'twantolether! WhatdoidotostopherbecauseI'mreallyworried!"___

"_Hum. That is delicate."_

"_That's all you have to say!?" I had yelled, throwing my hands in the air due to frustration. Honestly, did anyone want to help me?_

"_No, Percy, I have a lot more to say! You are not in control of her life!" she had yelled back._

"_I know that! Why do you think I'm trying to stop her from throwing her life away for me!?" _

"_No, no, NO!!! That isn't what I was talking about! I meant that she has the right to choice what she wants to do! You can't control her decisions!"_

_End flashback_

All of those conversations had given me plenty to think about.

Every day, I would go sit by the water and think. I always found it relaxing. Then, at around nine o'clock at night, Annabeth and I would go back there together and we would stay out all night.

Every day, I would look at Annabeth and think about how beautiful and perfect she was.

Every day, I would let the water run over my feet, and watch the water crash into the distant rocks.

Every day, I would think about life, and the decisions I had made.

Every day, the sun would rise, and a new day would begin.

Every day, the sun would set, and the day would end.

And every day, I would lose a day of my life, and I would wonder; how many day do I have left?


	24. Can't Believe It

**Hey!! I'm sorry that I haven't update in forever!!! I had a major writers block!! You see, I don't really want the story to end quite yet, so I thought of a way to make it longer!! Actually there are two things that I'm doing to prolong it. I really don't want to tell you much more, because I want it to be a surprise!! Anyway, hope you like it, and review please!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson and the Olympian characters**

**Can't Believe It **

_Percy's Dream_

"_We are coming, we are coming!" said the spirits in my dreams. They crowed around me, and chanted it reminded me of when Nico was arousing the dead, when he was trying to get Bianca to talk to him. _

_They danced in circles, and enclosed me in the center. _

_Every single one of the sprits eyes were trained on my ring. But not my wedding ring, they were eyeing the ring that had part of my soul in it. Somehow, I understood their intentions; they were going to try and steal it from me. _

_With no destination in mind, I started to run, only to find that the army of sprits was overwhelming. I could not find an opening to escape. _

_That's when they grabbed me._

I woke up in a cold sweat. Like every other night, I was outside with Annabeth, sleeping in the sand.

Anxiously I looked down at my hand and thankfully found both rings still on my fingers.

However, then I looked over at Annabeth, and saw that she was having a troubled sleep. She was tossing and turning in the sand. Her brow was furrowed, and her mouth was open; it looked like she was screaming silently.

I ran my hand over her head, to smooth out her forehead, and found that it was burning hot. Worriedly I scooped up some water with my hands, and poured it on her.

She woke up, startled, and looked around. I was quite surprised when she looked at the two rings on my hand and said, "Oh thank the gods!"

"For what?" I inquired.

"I had a dream that an army of spirits were trying to get the ring with your soul in it! But, obviously, you still have it, so everything is fine."

"Oh. So, how do you feel?"

"Um…" she said, obviously confused, "what do you mean?"

"Your head was burning hot like ten seconds ago." I said, while reaching out to touch it. It still felt very hot.

"I feel fine. I'm just sort of tired. Don't worry."

"But, Annabeth, your head it still _really _hot!" I said. I didn't think anyone here-as in Nico, Thalia, and me-had any knowledge and or experience with medical needs.

"Don't worry! I-I'm f-f-fine." That's when she threw up…all over me.

She kept apologizing over and over, but I wouldn't accept. I didn't think she had done anything wrong-I mean, who can control if they got sick?

Thalia and Nico had been scavenging for some food in the kitchen, and just when they were coming to find us by the water, they saw Annabeth barf on me. They helped me get her to her bed, and got her some food, to see if she could keep it down. That was a bad idea, because she immediately threw it all up on Nico.

We found out that Nico did _not _have a strong stomach, because as soon as Annabeth threw up on him, he threw up on Thalia.

Thalia didn't throw up…she just punched him in the face.

Thalia and I were stuck with cleaning duty, unfortunately.

"Thalia, do you know anything about health and all that medical crap?" I asked. I was getting sort of worried. Who was supposed to take care of Annabeth if there wasn't anyone with any knowledge?

"Um...no, I don't." she replied. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me, because she looked worried too.

A few days later, Annabeth hadn't gotten better. She was forced to lie in bed, and she couldn't eat anything…lest she throw up on someone.

We tried to take care of her as best as we could…which wasn't very well. All we could do was give her water.

"Why don't we take her to a doctor?" I suggested while we were cleaning up her new throw-up-ew….

"Percy, didn't anyone tell you; all of the mortals are asleep now too! That happened like two weeks ago!" Nico said, obviously surprised that I hadn't known.

"Thalia?" Annabeth said. Her voice was very crackly and rough from throwing up so much.

"Yeah, Annabeth?" Thalia replied.

"Can you come over here for a second please?"

"Sure…" Thalia said, while walking over to her.

Annabeth beckoned Thalia to come closer, and she bent down so Annabeth could whisper something to her.

Thalia's eyes got really wide with disbelief, and she was about to look at Annabeth, when Annabeth said something else. Thalia seemed to understand, and she left the room in a hurry.

The next day, Annabeth was able to get out of bed to puke. When she came out, she was holding something behind her back.

Without a word, she held it out to me.

Behind Annabeth, Thalia looked sympathetically at me.

Behind me, I heard Nico gasp.

The only think I was able to say was, "I can't believe it!"


	25. Not Going Anywhere

**Not Going Anywhere**

The little pink plus sign on the pregnancy test didn't seem to fit well in surrounding.

Annabeth was crying,-though I wasn't sure why-I was to dazed to say or do anything, Nico had fainted onto the floor, and Thalia-being very out of character-was consoling Annabeth.

"Annabeth, why on Earth are crying? You should be ecstatic!" Thalia said, while rubbing her shoulder.

"T-this is-isn't g-g-good! O-our baby isn't going t-to ha-have a d-dad!" Annabeth blubbered while breaking into renewed sobs.

That's when I regained the ability to think and talk. "Annabeth, don't worry! We'll fix this!" I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her slender-for now at least- waist. It wasn't like I could feel a bump in her stomach, but there seemed to be a mysterious presence. It was almost like I could feel the baby in there, while there were no visible signs of its existence.

"H-how c-c-can you possibly s-say t-t-that everything is g-going to b-be okay!" Annabeth said.

"Annabeth, do you want us to get rid of the baby?" Thalia questioned.

Annabeth forgot to continue crying so she could give Thalia a supreme death-glare that even gave Thalia a run for her money. "Are you _insane_? Why on Earth would I want to do that? Just because I had never wanted a baby before, doesn't mean that I don't want one now!"

"Then why in Hades are you crying?" a puzzled Thalia asked.

"I just told you! The baby won't have a father! And on top of that, what is this baby going to be?" Annabeth said, and again, she broke into more sobs. I pulled her close to me, and she put her head on my shoulder.

"Well, I think you need to be a little farther along to know the gender…" Thalia replied.

"No, I mean will it be a half blood or what?"

Oh gods! That was a good question! We are both half-bloods, so will that make our baby a half-blood too? Or would it be like a quarter blood thing? "Well, Annabeth, lets worry about that in…nine months. Right now we just have to get you well."

"Thalia," I said, "How in the name of Zeus are we supposed to get her well?"

We had just slapped Nico so he would wake up, and I was filling a cup with some water for him.

"Whoa! I can't believe you _did _it! How did you _do _it? I mean…that is just…just WOW!" Nico was saying. He found this whole ordeal quite…interesting.

"I don't know Percy. But what I do know is that we _have _to get her to feel better, or the baby will be harmed." Thalia said quietly. Apparently she didn't want Nico to hear any of this.

"Well, I have an idea"

Thalia and I each slung a bag over our shoulders so we could carry the stuff we were going to bring home. We were going into the city to get medical supplies. Nico was going to stay with Annabeth so he could help her if she needed him to. If anything went wrong he was going to call us, but I was still apprehensive. I didn't want to leave Annabeth when she was so fragile, but Nico insisted that everything would be fine.

We trudged beyond the borders, and got into the camp car that was parked at the base of the hill.

"How are we supposed to drive? We don't have the keys." I asked.

Thalia sneered at me, and ducked under the drives seat. When she popped back up, the engine had started-she had hot-wired the car. "So, where to?"

"Well, I'll direct you to the nearest hospital. That's our best hope." I replied.

As we got closer to more frequently used roads, I started to notice cars that were parked at strange angles, and no one was driving. "Where is everyone?"

"We told you, Percy. The mortals are all asleep too." Thalia replied while rolling her eyes.

I was then overcome with guilt. All of these people were in an impenetrable sleep, and Thalia, Nico, and I still hadn't fixed it.

Then I set my jaw, and swallowed my guilt. The reason why we were still alive was because Annabeth needed us. For now, I'm not going anywhere.

**Hey everyone! Ok, so this chapter was like done awhile ago, but I got a crappy grade on a test so I had to study for a REALLY long time. But finals are over!!! THANK GOD!! Well, did you like that twist? And they are married so…it's not too bad! Anyway, more action is on the way! Holiday break stars on Friday for me so updates will be more frequent, considering I will be on a plane for two hours. I'll be typing away! Okeydokie, hope you liked it, and review please! **

**P.S. I put a new poll on my profile! Please check it out!**


	26. Right Now

**Hey! I don't have much to say, except that I will hopefully update tomorrow because I'm about to start another chapter! Review please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Right Now**

By the time we reached the hospital, the sun was at its highest peak, and was casting rays of light through the car windows. We stepped out of the car onto the blisteringly hot sidewalk.

"Do you know your way around here?" Thalia inquired, while walking towards a map at the entrance.

"Nope," I replied. I walked over to the side of the building, and saw my first mortal, fallen over in a bush.

She had pale skin, tousled, bushy red hair, and a splatter of freckles across her face. She was wearing a paint-stained sweatshirt, and sweatpants.

It was Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

I could do nothing but stare. She had helped Annabeth and me so much in a previous year, and had been my best-and only-mortal friend. I hadn't seen or talked to her for over a year, but it still hurt to see her so lifeless.

A few of her friends were around her, and they were all painted a different color. They must have been doing another fundraiser for something artsy.

"Percy? Where are you?" Thalia called. She sauntered over to me, at a casual pace, but she must have seen some odd look on my face, so she jogged the rest of the way.

"What is it?"

I was incapable of forming a sentence, so I pointed.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Thalia said with a tone of recognition. The stepped forward, took my hand, and tried to pull me away.

"How do you know her?" I asked in a low voice.

"Annabeth told me _all _about her. She said she hated her because she was so annoying, but she really hated her because she thought you liked her. She and I had, like, an hour conversation about her, involving about ten slaps across the face, and many tears." Thalia stated matter-of-factly.

We were silent for a few minutes.

"We can't just leave them here," I whispered. It hurt me to see her and all of her friends just lying there, as they would for at least nine more months. "Something might attack them."

"Percy, a total of four people are still awake. One of which is in a fragile state. We don't have the man power to drag _all _of the mortals somewhere safe. We have to go get Annabeth medicine or something!" Thalia said frantically. She must have been worried that I would do something drastic because she stared tugging at my arm harder and harder.

"Wait," I said, tugging my arm loose of her grasp in one sharp movement. "I have an idea. You know those things that they put people that are going to die on?"

"Do you mean bypass?" she said wearily.

"Yeah, well what if we put some of the mortals on bypass? Do you think they would wake up?"

"Percy, we have a long time to think about all of this. Your _wife _is sick _right now_. We have to get something to help her _right now_."

While I'll admit she had a point, and I agreed to follow her, my mind was reeling a million miles an hour. If we could just but some of the mortals on bypass, then at least _some _of the mortals could be awake. It was a long shot, but as soon as Annabeth was a little bit better, I would try. And the first person I would help would be Rachel. She deserved it.

As soon as we got into the hospital, we started looking for medical cabinets.

A few minutes later, we had a bag filled with possible things to give Annabeth.

"What about a medical bed with all the stupid hanging wires and tubes? Do you think we need one of those?" Thalia asked, while rummaging through a cabinet and throwing aside a glass jar. The jar exploded into a puff of green gas, and the fire started.

"What the hell is that?!" I yelled to Thalia, who was staring in horror at the mass of green fire. It was spreading by the second.

"It's friggin Greek Fire! We have to get out of here _right now_!" She screamed.

The only problem was that I couldn't get out. All Thalia had to do was run towards the door, and she was home free, but I didn't have a way out. The fire was making a wall from one side of the wall to the other.

Then a thought struck me.

"What about the mortals?" I yelled to her. It was getting hard to breath, and I choked on my words. I never knew how similar mortal fire and Greek Fire were.

"Percy, hurry! We have to get out! The mortals will never survive if we don't get out! If you die, then everyone will stay asleep forever!"

"But even if I do get out, all of these people will die!"

"Please, Percy. Think about Annabeth. Just Annabeth. She will just kill herself if you die. If you don't get out _right now_, then you'll be trapped!" Thalia was Thalia was frantically trying to persuade me to leave, but I just couldn't do it.

"Thalia, go now! You're going to lose your chance if you don't leave right now! Take the bag of medicine to Annabeth, and _go_.

"Percy, _NO_!" She yelled after me.

But I didn't stop.

I was running away from my way out. Saving as many mortals as possible was my only goal right now.


	27. Thank You

**Oh yeah!! Super fats update!! And I'm in a writing mode, so I'm gonna go start another chapter!! Yay!! Ok, so I have a question for ya'll: do you think I should write a one-shot for ThaliaxPercy? As you hopefully know, I am a HUGE Percabeth fan, but it would be fun to write something different. So, if you would read it, then put that in your review, or PM me. Hope you like the chapter, and review please! **

**Thank You**

The heat was unbearable. Every breath I took was painful, and it felt like I would be the last breath I would ever take. But I focused on the task at hand. I ran as fast and as hard as I possibly could through the smoggy hospital, and looked for mortals.

Every room I looked in was empty. Every bed was fresh and previously made.

Well there goes my act of heroism, I thought to myself. And I hadn't even thought to use water. I'm a son of the _sea _god for the love of the gods! Why hadn't I thought of that? Well, it was too late to regret any discussions, so I was just going to fix it. I summoned the sea to me, and felt the familiar tug in my gut. I let it lose, and the power of the sea effulged my surroundings.

But, it didn't help anything. If anything happened at all, the fire just spread even quicker. So Greek Fire is immune to water? Hum…I never learned _that _form anyone. It would have been nice to know.

So to recap, I am stuck in a burning building, the water can't go out, and I got myself trapped because I was trying to be the hero. Yeah, that sounded about right.

There wasn't anything I could do except keep running from the fire, so that's what I did.

Finally I came to a room with a window. It was a nice looking room with a blue rug, silver curtains, and a brown antique dresser. I didn't see much more after that, because I ran straight into the window-and I mean _straight_ into it. The glass shattered, and cut me everywhere. My breath came in ragged gulps, and my clothes were full of ashes, but I still ran around to the front of the hospital.

"Thalia!" I yelled. She had to have gotten out. There was no way she wouldn't have. But every time I called her name, no one replied.

When the newly formed stitch in my side forced me to stop running, I put my head down, and placed my hands on either knee. I panted, and looked out at my surroundings.

Some magical force must have kept the fire from spreading outside, because everything was fine out here. However, when I looked into the hospital window, I saw green flames licking at everything it crossed paths with. Everything was demolished, and in flames. It was devastating to see.

The only good thing that I was able to come up with was the fact that there were no mortals that got harmed. Apparently there had been no mortals in there at _all_.

But all of the bad things continued to swim around in my sea of thoughts. Thalia was nowhere to be seen, and she might be dead.

"Thalia!" I called again in vain. As she had said to me before, without her-or me-none of the mortals would ever wake up again. The gods would also stay asleep, and eventually Nico, Annabeth, and I would die. The world would be a waste, with nothing to offer.

Without even contemplating my next move, I ran towards the burring building.

The door was searing hot under my hand, but I ignored the pain, and traveled forward, searching for Thalia.

The smoke and fire was worse than before. No breath could pass my through my lips without chocking me. No oxygen was left in the room for me to take in. Nothing was enough to salvage my thirst for fresh air. Nothing but the thought of finding Thalia.

Find Thalia, find Thalia, find Thalia, were the only thoughts racing through my oxygen deprived brain.

I couldn't go more than I few feet into the building, for the rest of the building was in flames of green.

"Thalia," I choked out. No one responded, so I went to the very edge of the flames.

One small flame leapt out to grab me, but I dogged it and scooted away.

That's when I saw a large mass in the corner.

I ran over to it, and saw that it was Thalia. Without bothering to check for a pulse, I gathered up her lifeless body into my arms, and ran for the exit.

When I reached the open air, I gulped in a breath of fresh air. It wasn't enough so I began panting, trying in vain to get enough oxygen. I laid Thalia down on the dewy grass, and, for the first time, checked for a pulse.

I thanked every god that her pulse was still there, though it was faint.

"Thalia," I said, shaking her shoulder, "wake up. You have to wake up!"

In turn, she groaned and tossed around a little bit. Then her tossing turned into thrashing. I pressed my hand down hard on her shoulder, trying in unsuccessfully to hold her still. After years of watching the T.V. show _House_, I was able to tell that she was having a seizure.

"Thalia, calm down. Stop!" I yelled. I had a hand on either of her shoulders, but nothing stopped her flailing limbs.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and her breathing was shallow, and she was shaking a little bit.

"Thalia, are you okay?" I said, grabbing her wrist, and checking a pulse. It was still weak, but stronger than before.

"Yea-h-h," she coughed. Then, she started chocking slightly. I grabbed her shoulders, and lifted her into a sitting position. Her breathing came easier then.

"What happened?"

"Well, after you left, I figured you were right. We couldn't just let all those mortals die. I started to run after you, but then I tripped on something. The flames started to burn me, but I was able to put them out. I remember crawling over to a corner, but then I must have blacked out."

I just nodded. The story made sense, and I didn't want her to use anymore of her breath; she sounded like a frog. "Do you still have all the medicine?"

"Yeah, I stuffed it into my pockets."

"Good. Well, I should probably tell you that there _were _no mortals in the hospital."

"Are you friggin _kidding _me? That just sucks!" She said, obviously angry.

I couldn't blame her though. She had tried to follow me, and been knocked unconscious in the process. But then again, our life was never easy.

"Yeah, well, whatever. Well, let's go." I said, standing up, and offering my hand to her. She took it, and then stood up unsteadily. But then she fell.

"Damn," she cussed under her breath.

"That's fine, I can carry you." I said, bending down, and picking her up.

"Hey, Percy?" Thalia said uncertainly as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Yeah," I replied, shifting her weight under my arms so she wouldn't fall.

"I just wanted to say…thank you."

I smiled at how uncomfortable she looked saying that. Thalia may act like she had some hard, unbreakable shell around her, but I knew that she wasn't really that tough. She could be nice, no matter how much so acted like she hated it. I smiled down at her, "You're welcome Thalia."

We walked to the car, and I took inventory of all the medical supplies we had salvaged for Annabeth. It wasn't much, but it would do. And it would do because it had to.


	28. Decode

**Am I the best or what? My third update in one day!! I'm on a roll! I think I'm going to start a one-shot, but I'm not sure what it's going to be about. Anyway, please review!**

**Decode**

I drove, considering Thalia still didn't look too good; her skin was pale and grimy, and her eyes would roll every few seconds like she was about to pass out again.

After we had been driving for a few minutes, I looked over at her, and saw that she had fallen asleep. I reached over and shook her awake. "Thalia, it's not good to go to sleep after being unconscious." I chided her.

"I know, I'm just so tired." She replied, yawning as if to add to the effect.

"Please Thalia don't go to sleep. You _have _to stay awake or you could go unconscious again."

She left it at that, but when I looked at her a few minutes later, she was slumped against the seat, asleep again.

I sighed, and left her alone. She was too stubborn to listen to me anyway.

I stared out onto the black asphalt, splattered with bugs. I looked at my hands, gripping the steering wheel. The ring with part of my soul in it glittered in the sunlight. The skull seemed to smile at me when I turned its face towards me.

Again, I sighed, my mind reeling with thoughts.

We were at the camps borders, and everything looked calm and peaceful. "Thalia," I said, shaking her awake.

"What?" she mumbled confused.

"We're at camp. Come on." I said. With that, I opened my door, and walked towards the tree, with Thalia following behind.

Together, we walked into camp. The strawberry fields-now dead- baked in the sun. In the distance, the lake glistened like diamonds in the sun. The cabins, in the shape of a "U," looked so out of place, yet fit together so perfectly.

We walked towards the Athena cabin, where Nico and Annabeth were.

I jogged to the cabin, and my eyes met a terrible sight.

Undead skeletons were all dancing around Annabeth and Nico, chanting, "We are coming, we are coming." And, just like in my dream, their intentions were clear; they were going to steal our rings.

As soon as I entered the room, more skeletons gathered around me. They grabbed at my shirt, and for my hand, trying to get my ring. I wasn't even capable of getting Riptide out.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. The skeletons were grabbing at her hair, and her hands, obviously looking for the ring she didn't have…the ring that Thalia had.

Oh gods, I thought, as the skeletons went away from Annabeth, towards something…or someone at the door.

"What the hell?" Thalia yelled, as the skeletons reached for her. As one, all of the skeletons reached for our rings, yanked them off, sucked the souls out of them, and then melted into the ground, leaving the rings behind.

We all looked at each other, all at a loss of words.

Annabeth's hair was a tangled mess, and with no warning, she turned away from us and threw-up.

Nico was staring, ashen faced, at the spot where the skeletons had disappeared to.

Thalia's mouth was in the perfect shape of an "O" and was staring off into space.

And I, I was too shocked to think about anything. The one way we could save the world, was now gone, taken by undead skeletons that had melted into the center of the Earth.

I slowly walked over to Annabeth, and held her hair while she puked into a bucket. Then, she turned towards me, and sobbed onto my shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Nico asked. I turned to look at him, and he looked like he was in a daze.

"We have to get the souls back. There is no other way! We _have to get them back_!" Thalia said, stamping her foot.

"Annabeth, what do you think we need to do?" I whispered into her ear.

"You should consult the oracle. It's the only way you can even get a clue to what is going on." She said in reply.

I walked up the stairs to the Big House attic. I had always hated the oracle. In truth, she creeps the hell out of me.

When I opened the trap door into the attic, the smell almost knocked me out. Apparently the mummy hadn't been aired out for a while. It smelled like Hades gym socks, and dead fish.

Before I was even inside the whole way, the oracle spoke in my mind:_I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask._

"How do I get the rings back?" I asked it.

Green mist swirled around my head, and an image of some of the skeletons appeared.

_To the Underworld you shall go_

_When a sacrifice is in need you will know_

_A son of Hades must take the lead_

_For you to get what you need_

_An enemy will appear_

_And you may lose all you hold dear_

Then the oracle closed its mouth, and the mist disappeared.

I walked out of the attic, trying in vain to decode the prophecy that might just ruin my life.


	29. I Don't Care

**Hey! I case you didn't notice, I have three one-shots posted; **_**Everything Goes Back to the Sea, I'm Just, and Fairytale. **_**Please read them and review for them as well. And, if you like AU Twilight stories, please look at my friends; **_**No Doubt There's Trouble**_**. ****.net/s/4716858/1/No_Doubt_theres_trouble****. It's her first story so go easy on her! Anyway, hope you like this chapter…review please! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any affiliated characters. **

**I Don't Care**

Slowly, I walked towards Athena's cabin. My mind was reeling with thoughts, but I tried to blank them out. Parts of the prophecy made sense, but as to some of the other lines, I was clueless.

When I arrived at Annabeth's cabin, I heard more puking. I raced inside, and took Thalia's place in holding Annabeth's hair.

"Are you okay?" I asked Annabeth when her mouth was clear.

"Yeah," she said in a raw voice.

"Well, I got a prophecy. '_To the Underworld you shall go_. _When a sacrifice is in need you will know_. _A son of Hades must take the lead, for you to get what you need_. _An enemy will appear_ _and you may lose all you hold dear,_'"I said, reciting the prophecy. I had never really understood how everyone was able to memorize their prophecies after just hearing it once. Then, the more I thought about it, I don't think anyone _can _forget them. It's like the prophecies are imprinted into receiver's minds.

Everyone was silent for a while, while contemplating the meaning of the prophecy. I steered Annabeth over to her bed, and made her lay down because she looked very pale. I sat down next to her, and ran my hand up and down her silky hair. Nico just plopped himself down onto the ground, and Thalia didn't move.

Like she does when she is stressed out, Thalia stood so still that you would have thought she was still a tree.

"Well, obviously I have to go with you," Nico said randomly, standing up.

"Yes, that would make sense, but would it really be _that _obvious? I mean you are the only son of Hades…aren't you?" Annabeth inquired nervously.

It was something to think about; were we really the only three children of the big three? Were there more children like us, who actually were awake? Could someone take away the burden of dying away from us? No, I thought to myself, stop thinking about that stuff. Focus on the prophecy.

"Well, yeah, Nico has to come with me…but I don't think anyone else needs to…" I said quietly.

Immediately an outburst started, causing mayhem. There were girls screaming at me, and I felt a few slaps across the face.

"Are you _insane_? You aren't the only two going! We have to come with you!" Annabeth screeched. Her voice had jumped up at least two octaves, and my eardrums were threatening to burst.

"Yeah, you have got to be kidding. Why in the name of Zeus would you even say something like that?" Thalia said. She was being a little bit calmer than Annabeth, but she still looked pretty angry.

"Annabeth, you can't go anywhere, and you know that's true." I said. I looked her straight in the eyes, and I knew that she understood what I was saying. "And Thalia, who is gonna help Annabeth if no one else is here? Obviously Nico needs to be there, so it'll just be me and him."

Annabeth was looking worried, and Thalia looked downright murderous.

"Well I think Percy's right," Nico said unexpectedly.

"Just 'cause he's right, doesn't mean I have to like it," Annabeth mumbled under her breath. Knowing I had won, I smiled to myself. I wasn't going without her because I wanted to, but because I needed to. I was doing what was best for her.

"Percy, I need to go on this quest." Thalia said with pain in her voice. I looked into her blue eyes, and saw that she wasn't lying; she really did need to come with us.

"But Thalia, we can't leave Annabeth alone!" Nico protested. The way Thalia was looking at me...my will was crumbling. She reminded me of Annabeth…so stubborn and downright stupid at some times. Thalia was like the sister I never had…and I guess we really were related: cousins.

While I loved Annabeth with all of my heart, I loved Thalia too, but not in a romantic way. She was just like a sister…even if she could be a stubborn bitch.

"Thalia-"I faltered. I needed to say no, no, I _had _to say no. She had to stay and protect Annabeth. Annabeth couldn't leave.

Well, she wouldn't have been able to leave if I hadn't looked at her.

Her stormy grey eyes were full of tears. She looked heartbroken, angry, and neglected all at the same time. She held out a clammy hand for me to take, and whispered one word: "Please."

I looked up at the ceiling, begging for help that would never come. My will had crumbled. What was going to be a small group of two was about to become a group of four. One was sick, another too stubborn to follow any directions.

"You know I _really _hate you guys for this…but-"I began, but I was cut off by Nico.

"Percy, we _can't let them come_! First of all, there are four people; that goes against ancient laws! We can't deify those laws. Second of all, Annabeth is too sick to move without puking, and you are thinking about crossing the _country _with her? The girls are right, you _are _insane!" Nico said. If looks could kill seemed like a good description of the look he was giving me now.

I opened my mouth to protest-though I wasn't sure why-but Thalia crossed the room. "Nico, please. We have to go." Thalia said. She looked at me him like Annabeth looked at me sometimes; with a heartbreaking look of misery that anyone would give in to.

And then, Nico's face melted into acceptance, just like the way mine always did.

"Oh screw it, I don't care." Nico said, although he still looked like he did care a little.


	30. Change

**Hey! I really have to give a special thanks to storm-brain and lildm30 for helping me with my story. I tried to take into mind all of the suggestions you gave me. Oh, and I just thought everyone should know that I went back and edited some of the chapters. You might not notice any changes, but I was up for about two hours editing. I don't think I will update tomorrow as it is Christmas, but I will update on the 26****th****. Again, please check out my one-shots…R and R please! **

**Disclaimer: unfortunately, I don't own anything.**

**Change**

Just like so many nights before, I went to the lake. The only difference was that I was alone.

The pale light from the moon casted a glow upon the blue, foamy lake. The clouds up ahead swirled around just like my thoughts.

The gentle waves lapped over and over against the jagged rocks by the banks, and the shells and sediment around my bare feet crunched around. A beautiful scene, but my mind was much too scared with confusing thoughts to take advantage of the beautiful scenery.

I sighed out loud. Nothing was right anymore. Nothing fit into place. The puzzle had fallen over, and the pieces were spread out; some were missing, some were broken.

_Well, I still have Annabeth, Nico, and Thalia_, part of my mind thought, hoping to bring the good things into the light.

No, my mind was not taking well to any positives. It was drawing a veil, a veil over the good things in life, and zooming in on the bad.

Bitter resentment, anger, and sadness tinted my thoughts. Life should _not _be this hard. _Nothing _should be this hard.

Bile filled my mouth, and I saw red.

_I hate life, I hate life,_ was the only phrase in my mind.

I groaned while my head filled with dirty and horrible thoughts of my future, my future and my friend's future.

Locks of black hair fell over my eyes, while they slowly fluttered closed, and my mind simply shut down for the time being

That night, no dreams had disturbed my sleep. In a sense, my mind had found a peaceful place to shutdown.

I had fallen asleep on my back, so I rolled roughly onto my back. I breathed in the smell of the sea; wet and salty. I lifted my head and looked up into the sky. A shadow of the moon was still viable during the sunrise. The sky was a colorful array of purple, red, and orange.

I imagined seeing Olympus on top of the Empire State Building; its massive columns, and its shimmering palaces.

Then Grover entered my mind.

I had trying to forget him…not because I wanted to, but because if I tried to remember him, my mind would overflow with wretchedness.

But, my goals were in vain.

His green Rasta cap, little horns, and curly hair swam around my head.

No, I told myself. Before I could get even more dramatic than I already was, I shook my head of all the horrible thoughts. I still have two friends, and a beautiful wife who is expecting a baby.

A baby. That means I am expecting to be a father. Being a father was never something I had thought about…well, that may have something to do with the fact that I'm not even twenty years old. But, now that I knew I was going to be one, I was thrilled.

Just what I was looking for; happy thoughts, happy thoughts to drive out the bitter resentment that seemed to rule my life these days.

When I had decided that I was going to have to die for my mom and dad, I had done so because no other choice had come around. I had just accepted that I was going to die, but I was going to die to help the world, just like a hero should.

But now, now that my time had been put on hold until Annabeth delivered the baby, my mind had time to think. It had time to think about my decision.

Oh course I wanted to have all the mortals wake up-though the bypass idea was quite stupid and would never work-I didn't want to die. I wanted to live. I wanted to live a happy life with Annabeth, and never have to worry about anything.

But life doesn't work that way, and I know it. I know it from the cockles of my heart that all of the emotions in my brain, and the red tinting my thoughts, are respectable.

I _should _be depressed.

I _should _feel resentment and pain.

I _should _hate my life.

But then again, I _should _think about the good times, and the good things that have happened.

But no, the anger and resentment kept coming back, and bubbling to the surface. Who cared if we didn't get the rings back? So the mortals would stay asleep, and Poseidon would fade.

At least I would be happy.

I put my hands to my face, and covered my eyes. _Selfish, selfish, selfish!_ Life was hard, but I shouldn't be thinking these terrible thoughts, and I should never be this selfish. Of course I was going to stay with Annabeth until she had the baby, but soon after, I would die. I couldn't prolong it much more than that. No matter how much regret scared the pigment of my skin, and filled me with dreadful thoughts, I had to do this. A real hero helps people, and by me living, no one is being helped.

Slowly, the emotions in my head started to subside, leaving me with a better perspective of everything.

I don't always hate life, and I don't always hate the world, but sometimes…I wish it would change.


	31. Don't Tell Me

**Hey! So, here's your new chapter. I hope you like it, even though there insnt that much action. Review please!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing besides the story is owned by me. **

**Don't Tell Me**

Two weeks had passed since I had wrestled with my mind. The days were uneventful, and boring.

Having given Annabeth some of the medicine, we were just waiting for the right time to leave. As it was, we were mostly packed already. My mind was still quite full of thoughts, but I tried as hard as possible to block them out. I could not possibly deal with anything else, lest my own thoughts.

Over those uneventful days, the clouds had turned a heavy, dark gray, leaving the atmosphere dreary and cold.

"Snow clouds," Annabeth said as we were sitting in her room. Since she had been copped up in there for a few weeks, she had taken to looking out the window and saying random facts. Today however, Thalia was spared from having to listen to them for she was out in the city getting more medicine and supplies for the quest.

"Huh," Nico asked absentmindedly, flipping though one of Annabeth's books and then tossing it aside with a bored sigh. We had nothing better to do, so we usually just stayed with Annabeth. However, it wasn't what you would call "fun."

"Outside, look. The clouds are really heavy and dark. That usually means that snow is on the way."

"Oh," I said sadly. No matter what the weather was outside, we wouldn't be getting any snow because of the weather barriers around camp. Snow had always been one of my favorite things to look forward to during the winter. It was cold and wet, just like the ocean. The damp feeling it gave my fingers, and the numbness it left my tongue in was just part of the pleasures it gave me.

I looked out of the window sadly. I wanted to experience snow again. Just one last time before I died, I wanted to feel the icy feeling on my skin, and make snowmen like I used to when I was a little kid. But that wouldn't happen anytime soon. We didn't know when we would be leaving, so the weather would be unpredictable. And of course we were headed to the complete opposite side of the U.S., and snow in California wasn't likely.

"Oh gods," Annabeth whispered. Her face had gone pale white, leaving her features look ghostly. My blood turned to ice as I raced over to her. It didn't look like she was going to throw up again, so I couldn't even guess what was wrong.

"Annabeth," I said urgently, taking one of her clammy hands in mine. "What is it, what's wrong?"

Nico rushed over with her puking bucket, but she just shook her head.

"Nothing, not a thing, is wrong," she whispered fervently. Little tears were forming in the edge of her eye.

"Then what happened?" I asked, whipping the tears away. Maybe she was hormonal, but I didn't understand why she would be crying if nothing had happened.

"I just felt the baby kick. It kicked!" Her lips spread into a wide smile, showing her pearly white teeth, and she started to rub circles on her stomach.

"Are you kidding me!?" I asked. My eyes were wide, and a smile broke out on my face.

"I'm…well…I think it kicked…" And then, he face fell drastically. It was a look that was enough to break anyone's heart. Beside me I heard Nico groan; it was the same face that Thalia had given him the other day.

"What do you mean?" I asked, stroking her hand with my thumb. I _hated _seeing her so sad. I would rather fight a hydra than see the look on her face.

"Well, it's just that it's too early for it to have kicked. Babies don't usually kick until they have developed for five or so months. I've only been pregnant for about two months." And then she started to cry. It was a horrible, heart-broken sob. It brought back memories of the sirens, the huge, ugly vultures that had tortured her.

Again, Nico groaned. He hated to see girls in pain. If he was able to live a normal life, I could see him being a player. (**A/N: Haha I just had to add that. Rick Riordan only ever described Nico as an "outcast." He never really had any friends in the books, so we don't really know his exact personality. So, I figured I'd play around with it a little bit.) **

My mind, already so full of thoughts, went back to the baby. It was so undeveloped, and helpless. Annabeth's stomach still hadn't grown much, but it was beginning to. Yet, I really _could _feel something inside there. It was like the presence was radiating around everywhere. Every time I felt it, my heart swelled with pride and happiness. Soon, I would be a father.

Without any warning, a grin spread out across my face.

Nico's eyes widened, and then he just turned and walked away. He must not have wanted to see what  
Annabeth was going to do to me.

Annabeth looked at me with teary eyes and an appalled expression. I could tell she was hurt that I wasn't comforting her. But instead of saying anything, I just gathered her into my arms and hugged her. "Don't worry. The baby will be fine," I whispered in her ear.

Her teary, grey eyes looked back at me with appreciation, and my heart melted. She actually started to look happy again.

When I got up to get her some water, I looked out the window. The sky was dark and dreary. I was able to see outside the camp borders, and saw that, yes, small flecks of small were falling to the ground. However, they were not falling within the camp boundaries.

Then, I turned around to look at Annabeth.

She was rubbing small circles on her stomach, and humming a tune that sounded it "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Her face was flushed, and her entire body seemed a little less pale than before. And then, for the first time, I saw that she was glowing. Not the kind of glow that appeared when the gods disappeared, but more of a happy glow.

It was the kind of glow that people always talked about seeing on pregnant ladies. Only, this time, I was actually seeing it for real.

However, just then, Thalia stumbled into the room. Her black hair had flecks of white, soft snow in them. Her boots were muddy, and her eyes were sad.

"What happened Thalia?" Annabeth asked, propping her herself up with her elbows.

Nico must have seen her come in, because just then, he trailed in behind her. "What I miss?" He asked, sitting at the foot of Annabeth bed, absentmindedly rubbing the skull ring on his finger.

Grimly, she held up a mortal newspaper.

"Oh, don't tell me!" Nico moaned.


	32. Never Think

**Yo people! Another chapter is here! I hope you like it. Oh, and if you want another AU Twilight story to read, check out ****.net/s/4744487/1/Julliard_School_of_the_Arts by Twilightluver11****. Well, i have nothing else to say besides review please! **

**Disclaimer: I honestly own nothing.**

**Never Think**

"We missed Christmas!" Annabeth shrieked. I could tell by looking into her eyes that she was upset. The date-December 28th-was printed in bold letters at the top of a blank mortal newspaper.

"Wait, how did you get a mortal newspaper?" Nico asked. He was looking down at his shoe, and kicking a pebble.

"I don't really know. I walked into a newspaper place, and a _bunch _of newspapers were just spilling out. They didn't have any news, but the date was printed on all of them. So, after I got more supplies, I brought it back here," Thalia responded. She had walked over to the bed across from Annabeth's and sat down.

"Well, let's not think about that right now," I said, trying to break the tension and sadness. "What supplies did you pick up Thalia?"

"Um," she said, rummaging through the bag that she picked supplies up in. "Well, I got a bunch of candy, some other food to take on the quest. Then I got some stuff for Annabeth."

"What kind of stuff?" I asked, mildly curious.

"Stuff that you don't need to be concerned with. That kind of stuff," Thalia snapped back.

Oh, I thought. I felt a blush creeping into my cheeks, and I grabbed a book to cover it up.

Thalia and Annabeth were both stifling laughter.

"Wait, I don't get it!" Nico said.

I moved the book away from my face to look at him. He looked very confused. His eyes were narrowed and he was frowning. I too stifled laughter, and then I couldn't control myself.

Maybe it was the fact that we had all been bored, stressed, and cooped up in a room for weeks, but we all started cracking up.

I felt all of my emotions slipping out of my mind, and seeping to the ground. It was like I was shedding another skin off of my body, just like a snake sheds its skin. All of the worries and anger and sorrow just melted away, and I was just left laughing.

For a very long time, we just stayed where we were and laughed. It was a great feeling, and I never wanted it to end.

That's when a brilliant idea formed in my head.

Without so much as an explanation, I grabbed Nico's shirt collar, and dragged him out of the room.

I took off running towards the forest, and, not really needing an explanation, Nico was trailing behind me.

When I got to a tree that I figured was large enough, I touched my ring with my index finger, and in the blink of an eye, I was now holding Riptide in my hand, and the ring-now missing its two eyes-was still on my finger.

"What in the name of Zeus are you doing?" Nico asked. He was looking at me very strangely.

"What do you think? I'm getting a Christmas tree." I replied excitedly. I was thrilled that I had found a way to celebrate Christmas after all. Not that Christmas had ever crossed my mind, it was sad to think that I missed it.

No, the part of my mind that was trying to be cheerful thought. Just keep hacking at the tree. Don't think negatively, just live in the moment. (**A/N: okay, when people are thinking, are you supposed to italicize it? Because I used to, but then I read a book that didn't have it so I stopped. But can someone please tell me the proper way to express thoughts? Thanks in advance!)**

A few minutes later, my thoughts were happy as Nico and I lugged the enormous tree towards the Athena cabin. Bristles and pine needles were poking me and getting stuck in my hair, but I didn't care. I was contemplating what to get everyone for Christmas.

As we got closer, Thalia's face peered out of the window. She ripped the blinds aside, and we saw her face light up with happiness. Beside me, Nico sighed wistfully.

"Oh gods, Nico. You like her don't you?" I said in trepidation. Yeah, it was kind of cute, but he was either thirteen or fourteen-hey, I don't keep track, and she was about seventeen or eighteen. Now don't take my opinion but that is just a _teeny _bit…creepy.

"Yeah. And I don't even care that she's my cousin," he said wistfully. Though he was confining in me out of choice, he was blushing slightly.

"Nico, that's a little bit…weird," I retorted. Even though it had weird before, the fact that they were cousins made it even weirder. I sighed internally. Nothing having to do with monsters was easy, but, add girl trouble, and you have an impossible task.

"I don't care. She's smart, beautiful, and strong," he said wistfully again.

I couldn't help but laugh. Thalia, beautiful? I found _that _thought _very _weird.

But then I saw the look on Nico's face; the death glare he was giving me was ten times worse than any I had ever received. Even though I knew he would do anything to me, I had the urge to bow at his feet. He had such a powerful aura.

When I spanned out of my trance-ish thoughts, Nico was looking at me all funny.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I heard myself reply. Meanwhile, my thoughts were elsewhere. _A son of Hades must take the lead, for you to get what you need. _Was this how he would get the lead; by force?

"Percy!" Thalia yelled to me. The tree was falling over, and my hand shot out to catch it.

"Sorry, I was thinking," I replied. Thinking wasn't the real word though, more like worrying, thinking, and contemplating all at the same time.

"You know Percy," Thalia said, approaching me with her eyebrows raised and her blue eyes worried, "you would do better if you didn't think."

"Yeah, to never think would be great," I replied, in a heavy voice, and a heart to match. But no, I thought. I had to think. And of course, I had just added something else to my things-to-think-about list; Nico


	33. Hard Knock Life

**In case you hadn't seen, I put up an author's note saying that I wouldn't be able to update because my grandmother is sick and is in the hospital. Well, I actually was able to update. I might actually be able to update again today, because I found out that I will just be in the waiting room of the hospital. Also, I deleted the authors note, and replaced it with this chapter, so if you have reviewed for the previous one, you can PM me about this one. So, here is your new chapter! Review please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything PJO. Did you really think I did? **

As we walked over the threshold, carrying the tree, Annabeth gasped.

"Oh my gods!" she shouted in delight. Her cheeks had a faint flush, and she looked happier than she had in days. "You got a Christmas tree!"

"Yeah," I grunted. No matter how fit I was carrying a large tree was not easy. The pine needles that had been poking me before were now digging into my skin, and making little, painful holes.

"Put it in the corner over there! Oh, this is so wonderful!" It surprised me how happy Annabeth was that we had gotten a tree. I mean, sure, no one wants to miss out Christmas, but she was as excited, you would think she was a little girl again.

Thalia who had been standing in behind Nico and I-watching us struggle with a bemused expression—started laughing randomly.

"And your problem would be…" I asked testily. Nico was already annoying me; I didn't really need Thalia on my nerves as well.

"Oh, nothing," she replied with a smile playing on her lips.

I just rolled my eyes and didn't reply. After straightening the tree up in the corner of the room by Annabeth's bed, I stepped back to admire the tree.

"Beautiful!" Annabeth squealed in delight.

I laughed and went over to kiss her on the cheek. She smiled, and then kissed me on the lips. "Thank you for doing this," she said.

"No prob," I replied with a smile on my face.

Thankfully, we were saved from having to go into town; we had ransacked some old boxes in the Big House, and found some tangled up Christmas lights and a few ornaments.

While we were putting the tree together, Annabeth went to the restroom. She had _insisted _that she didn't need anyone to accompany her though.

"Oh my gods," I groaned in frustration. The lights were more tangled then they had seemed in the box. Ten minutes of effort and I'm not even halfway done, I thought to myself.

"What's your problem?" Thalia asked from behind the tree.

"Well, I have to untangle all these lights," I whined.

"I have a very hard job too you know."

I snorted with laughter. "You mean placing little ornaments on a tree? You are kidding right? I mean, come on! That's so easy! Even Nico has a harder job than you, and he's just watering the tree!" snickering again, I began to untangle the lights again.

"You are _so _immature, Percy. You _always _think your job is harder, or your dad is better. And of course, in both cases, you are wrong," Thalia said, smirking slightly. She continued to place the ornaments of the tree; some figures of Greek gods, and some of their magical items.

"Oh, are we going to go into this again?" I retorted angrily. I threw the lights back in the box and faced her.

"Yeah, I guess we are!" she said, dropping the ornament on the floor, causing it to break.

"Well, to start with, Poseidon is a much better fath-"but Thalia didn't even let me finish my sentence; she had put her spear at my throat.

"Whoa, Thalia, calm down," I said, putting my hands up in surrender.

"Percy, I'm not doing this," she said. I could tell she was panicked; her eyes were scared and she was shaking slightly.

"Then please put your spear away so you don't kill me," I replied, as calmly as I could mange. Meanwhile, my mind was working, and working hard. Could Nico b doing this, I thought. Or was it another force?

"I-I c-c-cant."

Then she screamed. She screamed so loudly that some of the vessels in her eyes popped out. (**A/N: Is that right? Vessels? Hum...please tell me if that is right!)** Nico yelped and knocked his head on the tree, causing it to fall over.

Forcing my eyes open, and my ears not to fall off, I placed my hand over her mouth. "Thalia, stop," I yelled. Nothing happened except that she might have screamed even louder.

"STOP!" Nico yelled. His voice was full of so much power that I think even _Hades _would have bowed down to him.

And his assertiveness worked; Thalia stopped screaming, and collapsed into his arms, even though she was still conscious.

That's when I noticed she was bleeding.

"Nico, hold her steady," I told him, trying to use the same force that he had used.

I lifted the hem of her pants up to reveal a large gash on her ankle. I quickly grabbed some nectar from Annabeth's nightstand, and placed it in Thalia's mouth.

"Are you okay," Nico asked nervously. His eyes were wide and fearful, and even his breathing was shallow.

"Yeah, same as usual; it's a hard knock life," she said, swallowing the nectar gratefully. Silently, we watched the mysterious gash disappear.

**A/N: Okay, I know it seems like a lot of things are happening to Thalia, but please trust me, I have a plan. This will all make sense soon! **


	34. Everything

**Hi! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Well here is the first chapter of the New Year! I personally do not like the first part of the chapter, but I like the second part. Now this is VERY confusing, but it will make sense soon. In fact, I didn't even give you all the info yet, that will be the next chapter. Anyway, review please! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Everything**

"What was all that screaming f-" Annabeth said, faltering as she saw the scene ahead of her; Nico was still holding Thalia up, I had my hand over her gash, trying to keep pressure on it, and Thalia seemed to have passed out. "What _happened_?" Annabeth shrieked, running over to us. She drooped to the ground at Thalia's head, and felt for a temperature.

"We truthfully have no idea," Nico said nervously.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Well, she was about to kill me, then she started screaming, and then she collapsed and I found a big gash on her leg," I told her. By now the gash had stopped bleeding, so I took my hand away from her leg.

Next to me, Nico was nodding, telling Annabeth that what I said was true.

Then my anger reached a boiling point. "Nico, what in the name of Hades did you do to her?"

"What are you talking about?" Obviously Nico was furious that I had assumed he had anything to do with what happened to Thalia.

"Oh right, I forgot that you're in love with her," I retorted with my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Wow Percy, you are _really _dumb! We were just playing a trick on you. I don't like he like _that_! We just wanted to play a trick on you cause you seemed to be going through a hard time!" Nico shouted back, dropping Thalia flat on her back, and standing up. Annabeth ran over to her, grabbed a pillow from the nearest bed, and put it under her head.

"You-wh-wait _what_?" My mind was swirling around like a tornado. I had practically just accused Nico of almost killing out cousin, and also _liking _her, but he was telling me that they were playing a joke on me to make me happy? I squinted up my eyes, and looked up at the ceiling, begging for help. However, I knew the help would never come. The only thing that still didn't make any sense was his aura of superiority, but I would address that later.

"We were just playing a joke," Nico said more calmly than before. He was rubbing his skull ring nervously, fearing that I would lash out on him.

"Oh," I said in a small voice. Now that I was actually thinking about it, the whole thing seemed ridiculous.

"If you guys are _done_, can you please help me?" Annabeth said from behind Nico. She was tending to Thalia's wound, because it seemed to have come back. We rushed over to her side, asking her what we should do, but it seemed like there wasn't much we _could _do. It seemed as if Thalia was possessed; she was unconscious and her gash would leave and then come back, worse than ever.

Since she had been much too nervous, and on her feet too much, Annabeth threw up about ten times…all on Nico.

After carrying Thalia to the nearest bed, I helped Annabeth into bed, gave her some nectar, and she went right to sleep. I kissed her softly on her cheek, and tucked the covers more tightly around her. If Thalia was better by tomorrow, we would leave to go on the quest, so I wanted her to be comfortable.

"Nico," I called softly so I wouldn't wake up the two girls.

He came when I called him, and we walked silently over to the dinning pavilion. A thought had occurred to me, and I had to talk to him about it.

We sat down across from each other, and I began to talk: "Okay, Nico, you have to tell me everything."

"Huh?" Nico said. His eyebrows were raised, and his eyes were scrunched.

"You need to tell me everything Hades told you about the rings."

Nico gave himself away only because he started to rub his ring. Besides that, he bluffed well. "I've told you everything that I know."

"No, you're rubbing your ring. You only do that when you are nervous, which means you are hiding something."

The look on my face must have told him that I meant business because he sighed. "Fine, I left out a few crucial points."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like the fact that we might not really have to die." He said quietly.

The world seemed beneath me. My mind was reeling, and I was _furious_. "What. Do. You. Mean," I said through my teeth. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I would scream a stream of profanities at Nico that he had probably never heard of before.

"I have kept it a secret for a few reasons though, and I think you might agree that keeping it a secret was a _good _idea. But first, I have to give you some background" He said quietly again. I could tell that it was difficult for him to tell me this.

"When I was with my dad last year, as you know, he gave me three rings. He said that since I was going to be staying with him for an extended time, I would have to destroy the empathy link with you. But, he said if we each put part of our souls into the ring, it could be used as an empathy link and many other things. And, as Annabeth told us, it can also be used as a transporter, so that we can always find each other.

"But what my dad didn't tell me was that it would give me power. And he never really did tell me, but I snuck into his throne room/office, and I found some notes on the rings. They said that the possessor of a certain ring-the one I have-would get ultimate power.

"I didn't think I would need to worry about that, so I just stole the notes and kept them with me at all times, sort of as a reminder. I even have them in my pocket right now."

At that point I had to interrupt: "So that's why I keep feeling the need to bow down to you," I said with realization finally sinking in.

"Yeah, I haven't been controlling it very well lately." He said, in an ashamed tone. He seemed truly sad that he had given too much o an impression of power.

Suddenly, he continued: "But then I found out the real reason why he gave me the rings. It wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard him speak about it to Persephone.

"He wanted absolute power. He wanted to tear down Olympus brick by brick, just like Luke always talked about. So, he gave me the rings, hoping that I would use them to control everyone. He wanted me to be his little pet." The way Nico talked about his dad was very sad. He sounded heartbroken, confused, and angry all at the same time.

"I promised myself that I wouldn't fall into his little scheme, and I hadn't been until now."

"But why did you start?" I inquired.

"Because when I was rereading all the notes that were Hades, I found something that I had always overlooked; the person that took control, would be immortal."


	35. Whoa Oh

**Okay, I have a short authors note…I have been forgetting to tell you something important! The skeletons didn't actually steal the **_**rings **_**themselves, but the souls in them. So, they still have the rings, and their swords inside them, but their souls are gone. Anyway, please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything PJO.**

**Whoa Oh**

"So are you saying that if you take control, you will become immortal?" I said trying to clear that up, as well as the rest of my mind.

"Yeah, but that's not all. Yes, if I take control over everything, I will become immortal, but I think you will as well. You see, in the notes that I found, it said that we are now sort or tied together. If one of us dies, I think the other will die as well. If one of us becomes immortal, then it would only be logical that the others would become immortal as well.

"So, we could all live, but I would have to become the fifth Olympian, and rule over all the other gods, including the Big Three."

"Whoa," was all that came out of my mouth. I tried to form a complete sentence but again, I kept whispering "whoa."

"So I guess you think I'm completely selfish for not telling you this from the start," Nico whispered. He sounded so ashamed that I started to feel bad for him. His shaggy black hair fell over his eyes, but it almost sounded like he was crying.

"No, Nico, I _do not _think you are selfish at all. You are just scared," I replied. Nico defiantly wasn't a girl, so I wasn't going to hug him, so I just thought I'd try to talk to him.

But his look just shot daggers at me. "I'm not _scared_." She spat the word out like it was an infectious disease.

I inclined my head down and looked him. "Nico, come on." Even _I _would admit that I was scared. Me as the ruler of the world would _not _be good.

"Well, fine, I'm a little scared. I mean, am I really going to make a good ruler?" he whispered. In my opinion, he sounded much more afraid than he was letting on.

"Wait, so you _are _going to do it?"

He looked at me with an astounded face. "Oh course! I was always going to do it; I just had never planned to tell you what I was going to do."

"You mean that you were going to become a god, and Thalia and I would live-and maybe become a god- but you weren't intending on tell us?" I asked. As confusing as it sounded, I suppose it made a little bit of sense, but not much. He just wouldn't want us to talk him out of it…or pressure him into it.

"Well, yeah, that had been my plan. But now, obviously, that didn't happen. So, I guess when the girl wake up, I should tell them." As he was talking, he stood and stretched. His expression was anxious, like he was imagining what the girls would do to him when we told them everything.

"Good idea, but wait," I said. A crucial piece of the puzzle had been left out. "What is going to happen to Annabeth?"

Nico started fidgeting around, and rubbing his ring again. Apparently he felt awkward about the question. "Well, I'm not actually sure…"

"Well, thanks for clearing that up," I said sarcastically.

"Well, there seem to be a couple possibilities. She could become a goddess since she is 'tied' to you by marriage."

"Well, I may not be _that _smart, but you said there were a couple possibilities, but you only mentioned one. What are the others?" my heart was pounding in my chest; I could tell he was leaving something out.

"Well, um, she could, um…die," he said.

My eyes widened, but he hastily continued talking. "No, I mean, you know the story of Dionysus's wife, Ariade, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, she got dumped by Theseus, and then Dionysus saved her, and when she died, he made her his immortal wife," I replied. Visions of standing on top of a building while Dionysus wrapped me up in grape vines filled my head, and I shuddered.

"Yeah, exactly. So, when Annabeth dies a _natural_ death, you can make her your immortal wife."

"Oh, that makes sense, I guess," I heard myself reply. But I didn't really agree with my words. I didn't want to have to wait until Annabeth died to make her my immortal wife.

"Percy, I know what you are thinking, but there is no other way, you have to wait," Nico said as if reading my thoughts…which might have been the actual case…

"Nico, did you just read my_ mind_?"

"W-what…yeah, I just kind of heard a buzz in my ear, so I zeroed in on it, and I guess it must have been your thoughts. That is _so _cool!"

"Wait, wait, wait, I wanna try!" just like Nico had said, there was a buzzing in my ear. I focused with all my strength on that buzz until it became words. _That is so cool! I can't believe this! I can read minds. _

I relayed what I had heard back to Nico, and that had been what he was thinking.

"Whoa," we both said at the same time, in awe.


	36. Let's Roll

**Sorry for not updating, I had a soccer tournament-which we lost in =(. So, I would have rather been here updating! Anyway, this chapter is where Nico tells Thalia and Annabeth all the info he's been holding out. Hope you like it, and I think they will start the quest in the next chapter =D. Review please! **

**Disclaimer: Only the story is mine**

**Let's Roll**

"I have something to tell you," Nico said to Annabeth and Thalia after we had woken them up. Thalia seemed fine, so why she had gotten hurt was still a mystery. Annabeth even had a little flush in her cheeks.

Thalia and Annabeth exchanged nervous glances, and then Thalia said: "What do you need to tell us?"

I could almost feel the butterflies flying around d Nico's stomach as he told the girls the information he had left out.

With each passing second, Annabeth and Thalia's expressions changed from confused to angry. Tuning in on Nico's thoughts, I heard that he too was angry. But he wasn't angry at anyone but himself.

Only seconds after I entered Nico's mind, he stiffened and started to cuss at me. Apparently he didn't want me listening to my thoughts, so I left.

Ten minutes later, Nico was done. Nervously he looked at me, but I made no move to encourage him, or daunt him; I just held my position and expression.

"Nico, how could you _possibly _keep this from us?" Annabeth yelled at him. She had tears pouring down her face, her expression was lethal, but her eyes hopeful. I could only imagine what was going through her head.

Nico didn't say anything; instead he hung his head, his hair falling into his black eyes.

"Nico, I don't understand something," Thalia said slowly. She was looking at Nico very strangely.

"What," he said with a shaky voice.

"How did I get that cut? I mean, did it have something to do with your powers or something?"

"Actually," Annabeth said, interrupting what Nico was about to say, "I have a theory about that; I think it was Kronos."

A sharp intake of breath was heard from Thalia. Working hard, I zeroed into her thoughts; _what?! Kronos? What, how, why?! _

"He must be trying to torture us, and make us turn on each other, so that we don't work together to get the rings and so that you don't sacrifice yourselves together. I think he was trying to get Percy angry at you, so he took control of you. It must have been almost like a dream." Annabeth looked pale, but determined. I could tell she had thought this through thoroughly.

"So are you saying that Kronos, like, took over my body, and then cut me?" Thalia asked slowly.

"Well, yeah," Annabeth replied timidly.

"Well that's so not cool!"

I snorted back laughter at her look of indignation.

"Um, no it isn't," Annabeth said, also holding back laughter.

The only one who wasn't smiling was Nico, who at this point, looked like he was crying.

"Nico, it's all okay! We'll figure all this out, don't worry," Annabeth said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Really, you guys don't hate me," he said in a croaky voice.

We all shook our heads.

Sighing in relief, he said: "Well, now that I have all of _that _off my chest, I think we need to get ready for the quest."

***

One hour later, we had everything packed into three backpacks. Nectar and Ambrosia were put into plastic baggies, and were placed in my bag, along with enough food to last about a year, and water bottles to wash it all down. The good thing was that the bag wasn't heavy.

Thalia's bag had four bed rolls and four pillows, and all the mortal medicine we were giving Annabeth so she wouldn't be sick.

Nico's backpack had more food, extra changes of clothes, and toiletries like tooth brushes and tooth paste-not that we would actually use it…

"I think we have everything, but are you sure I shouldn't take a backpack," Annabeth said nervously. We had forced her to stay in bed while we packed, and we weren't letting her take a backpack.

"Yeah, we have everything, and you don't need to carry anything. So, are we leaving tomorrow?" I asked.

"No, let's roll now!" Nico said. He sure looked excited.

"No, let's _not _roll now, let's roll tomorrow," Thalia said, while dragging her backpack into Athena's cabin, since for a few days now, we had all been staying in there. She pulled down her sheets and climbed into bed. Within minutes, she was snoring.

"Yeah, we'll "roll" tomorrow," I said, following Thalia's example of going to bed.


	37. Right Here, Right Now

**Hey! I thought I would update today since I won't be able to tomorrow. As I hope you all know, the BCS Bowl is tomorrow!! And you should also know that the Gators **_**will **_**win. There aren't any "if's" or "maybe's." THE GATORS WILL WIN!! Okay, sorry. I'm just a huge UF fan!! Anyway, they are preparing for their quest, and are embarking on it in this chapter. Hope you like it and review please! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing PJO**

**Right Here, Right Now**

_The dark air was swirling around and around me, fogging up my view. I felt around at my surroundings, but only air greeted me. Walking forward as much as I dared, I felt around with my toe._

_Then gravity took over; I began to fall._

_My stomach was left on the cliff, as well as my heart. I was flying at an angle, so close to hitting the wall. _

_And then it all stopped. I felt no impact at all; in fact I wouldn't have known that I had stopped if not for the fact that the roaring in my ear was gone. Shakily, I stood up. Apparently I actually hadn't lost my stomach or heart because my stomach was bouncing around in my ribcage and my heart was beating at a million miles an hour. Taking a deep, raged breath, I walked forward into the unknown darkness, not even daring to guess what awaited me. _

_To my immense surprise, nothing jumped out at me, and tried to kill me. However, I only became more alert than before. My experiences with "safe" places were not good. In fact, that's usually where I almost get killed. _

_I continued walking for a little bit, but then I ran smack into a wall. I tried to push the wall, hoping for a secret room of some sort, but the only thing it did was make my arms feel like lead. Finally I gave up on the wall and took one step to my right. Immediately a wind so strong and violent ripped at my, trying to pull me in. I tried as hard as I could to grab onto, but there was nothing. _

_So, again, gravity and wind took over, and I started to tumble farther and farther down the deep, dark abyss. _

***

I woke up, tangled in my bed sheets in Athena's cabin, and sitting up straight. My heart was pounding fast and head against my rib cage and I was sweating bullets. I looked out the window and saw that the sun hadn't even risen above the horizon.

I looked around and saw that everyone else was still asleep. I plopped back down onto the pillows, and fell back asleep.

***

The next time I woke up, it sun was glaring at me through the window. As I stared at the sun, I wondered how it could have been rising all this time when Apollo has been asleep.

"While he may be sleeping, his thoughts are still in tuned with his duties, so while he may not be moving, his thoughts are controlling the sun chariot," Thalia said, also sitting up in bed. "Whoa! How did I do that?"

"We didn't tell you? We can read each other's thoughts now," Nico said. Unnoticed until now, he was sitting in a dark corner, fully dressed, rubbing his ring. He looked tense, and I supposed it had something to do with the fact that our quest was starting today.

"No, you didn't tell me! That is so cool, but can Annabeth do it as well?"

_She better not be able to do it_-Nico thought quietly in the back of his head. Slightly amused as well as angry, I threw a pillow at his head, which was followed by a soft "Ow!"

"I'll have you know that I am offended!" Annabeth mumbled with her head in her pillow.

Ha, I thought. So Annabeth _can _read our minds as well. This could be good as well as _very _bad.

"Oh, Hades," Nico mumbled aloud, not even bothering to just think it since we would all hear it anyway. While he didn't finish his sentence, his feelings, and thoughts were clear; _I'm mad that she can read minds too_.

***

Two hours later, we were ready to roll.

We stood on the top of half blood hill, with the soft, dewy ground and what was left of the leaves crunching beneath our feet. I looked back at the camp sadly, wondering if I would ever see it again. But I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, and looked ahead of me again. We all had found some coats and mittens in the camp store, and we had equipped ourselves with them.

Apparently that had been a good idea since the sky was letting lose tiny snow flurries that swirled around, and fluttered to the ground.

"Wow, it is _really_ cold!" Thalia whined. She had on two sweaters and a winter coat. Mittens were practically glued to her head, as was a hat.

"Yeah, it is," Annabeth agreed. She was shivering from head to toe, even though she had even more clothes on than Thalia.

"Come here," I said, opening my arms for Annabeth to come.

But I got one more person than I thought I would…

"Thalia, what the Hades?" Nico said, laughing like a hyena. When I had opened my arms, Annabeth had come, but Thalia had too.

"I am freaking freezing!" Thalia said, shivering violently. Gratefully, she snuggled closer to Annabeth and I in our little huddle, trying to absorb as much heat as possible.

"You do know that we haven't even left, right?" Nico said. He didn't look cold at all, and I suspected it had something to do with the dead being cold and all.

"Yeah, I never get cold," Nico replied, answer to my unasked question.

Oh gods, I thought. This could get very annoying.

"It already is!" Thalia, Annabeth, and Nico all said at the same time.

Laughing aloud, I pulled Annabeth closer to me, and hugged her. With the snow tainting the ground and all of us, the sun beating down on our backs, and the chill in the air, I realized that we could work this out. We could all stick together and find our lost souls again, and we could complete our quest. But most of all, we could help _everyone _and give our lives to a greater cause. And if what Nico had said was true, that we might become immortal, then so be it, but what we had to do right here, and right now, would be to finish our mission in life, and start being the heroes.


	38. Falling

**Okay, hi everyone! FYI, I will try to update again tomorrow. Now just so you know, there aren't going to be **_**that **_**many more chapters. In every new chapter (with maybe a few exceptions) there will be a few days that will have passed. Like in this chapter, ten days of the quest have already passed. Anyway, hope you like it! Review please!**

**Falling**

"No, no, no!" Thalia screamed. Ten days of our quest had passed already. Surprisingly we had made it as far as Indiana.

Holding her face in her hands, Thalia cursed. "No! Now we have to walk!"

"What do you mean?!" I asked panicky. Annabeth had already thrown up at least ten times, and she was currently asleep, having just thrown up only two hours ago. She would never make it.

"I know," Thalia whispered.

I groaned internally, knowing that Thalia would hear that too. I looked backwards into the backseat, and saw that both Nico and Annabeth were asleep. Nico looked peaceful with his head resting on the arm rest. Annabeth looked pale, but at the same time happy; she seemed to be smiling slightly, and she was holding her stomach. However, it didn't look like she was going to be sick; it just looked like she was…holding it.

I turned my head back to Thalia. "What are we going to do? Does the car need gas? A new tire?"

"No, no. It isn't that simple. I don't really know much about cars but I can tell we won't be able to fix it." She replied, shaking her head vigorously.

Way to be optimistic, I thought. Then realizing that she could read my thoughts, I started to think about other things, like cupcakes.

"Urgh, I want a cupcake right now," She mumbled.

"That is off topic, we-"

"Well, you are the one who brought it up!"

"I didn't bring anything up. You read my thoughts!"

Glaring at me, Thalia tried to rev the engine again, but it didn't even sputter. Out of clear frustration, she continued to rev the engine, turning the key again and again, only getting more frustrated by the second.

"Dammit!" she yelled, pounding her fists on the dashboard. Her anger radiated through the car, causing my vision to blur.

"Washapinin?" Nico mumbled, sitting up to face us. His hair was a messy disarray of black, and he looked pale in the limited light.

"The car broke down," Thalia said through gritted teeth. My stomach churned at the thought, and I closed my eyes in frustration.

"What do you mean?" Nico shrieked like a girl. Even his thoughts were panicked and screechy. "What are we going to _do_?"

"To start with, you can lower your voice down about, let's say, four octaves," Thalia replied grumpily.

"Oh, shut up," Annabeth mumbled from the backseat. Without our knowledge, she had sat up, and apparently had been listening to our conversation.

"Annabeth," Thalia asked hesitantly, "Do you know anything about…cars?"

***

"So I think it may work now," Annabeth said, shutting the hood. Her face had some grease smeared across her face. When she whipped her hand across her brow, it left more black stuff on her forehead. I have no idea what she did to the car. She had been tinkering away for about fifteen minutes, randomly asking for a tool that we had found in the trunk. The clanking of the machinery had annoyed me, so I walked up the road for about half a mile, in search of something to eat. We were also in need of gas for the car, so if we didn't stop at a gas station soon, we would be in trouble. But of course, I couldn't find anything.

"Do you really think you fixed it?" Nico asked.

Glaring at him, Annabeth didn't even bother to answer out loud. She just thought: You are kidding right? I'm a daughter of Athena!

Stifling laughter, I hopped in the front seat, turned the key in the ignition, and waited. To all of our amazement, the engine roared to life, sending us all to hug Annabeth.

"Geeze," Annabeth started. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you had no faith in me!" She looked at us all with a fake glare, and then started to laugh. The sparkle in her eyes made my heart soar; for some reason, no matter how sick she was, she was happy. Her face was flushed, and she was smiling. At just the sight of it, I had to smile.

***

Again, Thalia and I were sitting in the front seats, and Nico and Annabeth were asleep in the back.

Silence filled the air, causing discomfort. I had always hated quiet places. Being ADHD and all, I liked loud, fanatical places. So, the car ride was very uncomfortable.

"Does the radio work?" Thalia asked grumpily. She had been turning the dial, trying to tune into a radio station for the past five minutes, but to no prevail.

"I don't know, try hot wiring it or something," I replied irritably. Since there was nothing else to do, I was trying to fall asleep, but Thalia's constant grumblings were not helping.

After another few minutes of her complaining, I took to looking out of the window. The scenery we passed by was beautiful. The trees were a luscious green, as was the grass. Wild flowers bloomed everywhere, filling the meadows with color. The sun peaked through the trees, casting a beautiful glow. But then, just like all of the other places we had seen, we passed by it, leaving the meadow.

Then, I turned my eyes away from the side window to look out of the front window.

Just then, there was a break in the road. "Thalia!" I yelled.

She had fallen asleep at the wheel. And now we were falling.


	39. Should've Said No

**Hey! Here is your new chapter! Oh and I forgot to say that the van that they have is the camp van which they took from camp. And this is one of the exceptions; it is the same day. But in the next chapter, numerous days will have passed. And by numerous I'm talking about a month. But don't worry; you'll be glad that I have it like that. **

**Disclaimer: while I may wish that the PJO series was mine, I am depressed to say that that is not reality. *sigh* **

**Should've Said No**

Just then, there was a break in the road. "Thalia!" I yelled.

She had fallen asleep at the wheel. And now we were falling.

The world was left behind us, and we were free falling towards the unruly, dangerous sea. The waves were coming closer with each passing moment, and we would soon hit the water with an impact so hard that we would all die.

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed. She was absolutely terrified. Her voice and thoughts were filled with anxiety and panic, and I could not stand it. I had to do something.

Our van hit a rock on the ledge, making the front of the car dip down, making us all more vulnerable. The crash had woken up both Nico and Thalia, and with panicked eyes, they all turned to me.

I focused with all of my strength to cushion our fall.

When none of us saw any change in the currents or the van, we lost hope. Clutching the seats, we closed our eyes, waiting for the impact that would eventually come. Falling and crashing would be our last experiences.

But the impact never came. Instead, there was a feeling of bouncing. Slowly opening my eyes, I looked out of the window and saw that we had stopped in mid air, and we were rocking slightly. Knowing that she would hear me, I thought; Thalia, keep your eyes closed.

The nodded her head slightly, and shut her eyes even tighter than before.

"Okay guys," I said out loud, trying to sound as calm as possible. "We seem to have stopped in mid air, about thirty feet in the air. Below us is the water and I'm thinking of a way to get out of this situation."

***

After much deliberation, I opened the car door, and looked down at the churning sea below me. I didn't even hesitate, didn't think about any rocks or dangerous animals; I just jumped.

I fell through the water like a knife cutting butter; smooth and easily. The water below me seemed to bend at my will, and with no effort at all, I fell right to the bottom of the ocean, fifty feet below the surface. And again with no effort, I shot back up until my head bobbed above the surface. The sun glared down at me, and the waves continually lapped over my head. But the weirdest sights meet my eyes; the camp van suspended in mid air, being held by a solid block of water that had shot up from the water. With a surge of pride, I realized that I had formed that, saving my friends.

Peeking out of the window was Annabeth's stormy gray eyes, looking at me apprehensively. I gave her a thumbs up; the signal to send Thalia down.

A mass of raven black hair came into view at the edge of the car door. It was easy to see that Thalia was grasping the car door as if her life depended on it. She turned around to face me, and fear was plain on her face, etched into her skin. Her wide eyes were almost black, and her fingers were still clutching the door, making her knuckles white.

"Thalia, don't worry, I'll catch you," I yelled to her. I knew that the only thing holding her back was her fear of heights.

Giving me the best glare she could muster, she jumped.

She screamed the entire way down, and when I caught her in my arms, she just kept screaming.

"Shut up, Thalia, you're safe!" I yelled at her.

She opened her eyes and looked around. Jumping out of my arms and into the water, she splashed me, and then dove under the water to explore.

"Okay Annabeth, you're next!" I called up to them.

Looking apprehensive, Annabeth stepped to the edge of the car door, and looked down at me. I smiled, and that seemed to be enough for her, so she jumped.

I caught her in my arms. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and then hopped out of my arms, out to find Thalia.

"Okay Nico, I flat out refuse to catch you, so I'm gonna make the water like a cushion, and you-"

But then he was right beside me, bobbing up and down in the water.

"H-how did you do that?" I asked befuddled.

"Well I just found something very disturbing out," he replied grimly. The butterflies returned to my stomach, sending me glittery vibes.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

"Well, I slipped out of the car accidently, and I just realized…I can't die." Nico whispered. He may have been trying to act calm before, but this time; the fear was plain on his face.

I stopped right in my train of thought. How could all this be so messed up? When I was offered my first quest, right then, I should've said no.


	40. I Hate this Part

**Okay, hello everyone! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! I had SO much to do, and this chapter was particularly difficult to write. Also, I had a terrible writers block! Now I have to tell you a little about this chapter; it is six months after they jumped from the van. Percy made an air bubble, but since he is now much better at controlling his powers, he made it a big bubble, with a few rooms. Now many of you are probably wondering why I did this. Well it was never my intention to write about all **_**nine **_**months of Annabeth's pregnancy. She is now eight months pregnant. And as I said before, I will be having a new week (usually) every chapter. And besides, I didn't want to bore you with all the details of six months! Okay, well onto the chapter! Review please!**

**I Hate this Part**

***Six months later***

Finally, our air bubble touched land, sweet, sweet land! I felt like Columbus, finally discovering North America as he had so many years ago. A huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders as I brought the bubble to the surface. Our heads rose to the sunlight splattered surface, and we soaked up the scent of fresh air. High in the sky, the sun spotted the land with dots of light and casted a beautiful glow over the ocean. Clouds covered some of the sun, but enough peaked through to see. Rocks climbed up small ledges, wrapping around them, and forming small cliffs. Flowers bloomed from the grass, filling the ground with color. Trees sprouted from the ground in various places, some holding blood red apples on their branches.

"Sightseeing later please!" Thalia called from off to my right. She was struggling to stay above the waves, spitting water out of her mouth.

"Chill, I've got this," I replied calmly. I called the sea from within me, and Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, and I rose up to the top of the ledge on a platform made of foamy water.

"Hop off," I told them. We had reached the rocky ledge, and we were steps away from touching land. I jumped off, and breathed in the sweet smell of the land; apples and oak trees.

Thalia gratefully jumped off of the water-raft-thingy and started to pace back and forth, looking around at the scenery. She walked over to a nearby oak tree, and touched it lightly. She sat down next to it, sitting nearly as still as the tree.

Nico clamored off behind her, the fog clinging to him as he walked.

Then Annabeth slowly got off. Her stomach was huge! It was just a large lump, completely taking over her entire body. She was slightly off balance due to her added weight, but if she was bothered by that, she didn't let on. She had long since gotten over being sick every second (thankfully) but had taken to sleeping a lot.

Night after night, I would find her in her small room, rubbing her stomach and singing lullaby's to it. She took to calling the baby her "little nudger," from the _Twilight _series. **(A/N: I won't go into details about it in case you are or plan on reading all the books…I don't want to spoil anything!) **

_Flashback_

"_PERCY!!!" Annabeth yelled to me, one day during our incredibly long journey to California. It actually was my fault that it took so long; I forced the bubble to go the wrong way, and we were already around the tip of Africa by the time I realized that we were going the wrong way. We could have gone even faster, but I also run us into a hurricane. That set us even more off course, but thankfully my GPS system-my brain-was able to set us back on track…again. The up side of the ordeal was that we had circumnavigated the world…at least I think…_

_I raced into her room as quickly as I could; fearing what could be the problem. _

_Throwing open the door, I ran to her side. "What's wrong?"_

"_It kicked! The baby kicked!" she screamed. Her face was lit up in excitement. _

"_Oh, well that's great!" I yelled ecstatically. I had never felt the baby kick, but according to Annabeth- who had tried in vain to explain the feeling-it was amazing. _

"_Here! Come here! Ah, the baby's kicking again!" she screeched. She was franticly grabbing my hand and putting it on her stomach. _

_And I felt it._

_I felt the baby, my baby, kick at Annabeth's stomach. She laughed at my shocked expression, and leaned forward to kiss my cheek. "Oh, Percy, I forgot to tell you; I've thought of some names for the baby!"_

"_Really? Well then, let's hear them," I replied. I sat next to her on the ground, and she pulled a piece of paper out from her pocket. _

"_Okay, so if it's a girl, I have a few suggestions; Isabella, Alexandra, and Vanessa-"_

"_Wait, wait, wait! Isabella? Isn't that from Twilight?"_

"_Well…yeah. I love that name though!"Annabeth said excitedly._

"_Fine, let's hear the boy names." I was a little nervous for these, after hearing the girl names, but I needn't have been, since they weren't too bad. _

"_Okay, well I have a lot of good boy names; Jarred, Justin, Jacob, and Chase."_

"_No to Justin, Jacob is kind of lame, and Chase sounds like a credit card."_

"_Haha, very funny. So I guess Jarred is your favorite?" she asked, looking down at her list again. _

"_Yeah, I like that name. So Jarred for a boy and Isabella for a girl?" Those names sounded good to me._

"_Yeah, and I was thinking, if we had a girl, her middle name could be Thalia, and a boys middle name could be Nico."_

_Smiling to myself at her cleverness, I nodded. It sounded great to me. _

"_Urgh! But now we have to wait to know the gender! I hate this part!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. _

_End Flashback_


	41. Blackout

**Ok, this is either the second or third to last chapter. They are at the entrance to the underworld in L.A. It may not make a ton of sense, but I will hopefully clear everything up in the next chapter. If not, feel free to PM me. Hope you like it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO**

**Blackout**

"So I guess we're here," Thalia said apprehensively. She began rubbing her bracelet, since she was nervous.

"Yep, I guess so," Annabeth replied. She put her hand on her bulging stomach and started to rub circles on it.

"Oh," Nico started, "come _on_. I can get us there easily. Remember the whole ring transporter thingy? Well I can get into the Underworld, and then you guys can use the rings to follow me." It sounded good to me, so I nodded my head, and retied my sneakers just in case.

"Hum, well we've never used it before, but I guess now's the right time to test it," Annabeth replied.

"Okay, follow me right away," Nico said. Then, right before our eyes, he disappeared. No source of light flashed in his place, he just disappeared.

"Okay, Percy and Thalia, rub your rings when I say go," Annabeth said, wrapping her arms around my waist, and holding tight. "One, two, three, _go_!"

I rubbed my ring as fast as I could, and just for good measure, thought of Nico down below us.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying flat on my back in the Fields of Asphodel. I waited to see all of the dead wandering around the trampled ground, maybe one was going to step on me, or ask me a question. But, there wasn't anybody in sight. Only when I turned my head did I see Annabeth, Nico, and Thalia beginning to stir.

Nico sat up, and looked around. "Everyone's gone?" he said as a question, rather than a statement.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't think the dead would be asleep," I replied, as I helped Annabeth into a sitting position.

"No, I don't think they _are _asleep. I think they may have just disappeared. Kronos would want to make sure the job was finished, so he 'killed' the dead but just making them disappear. Maybe when we get everybody to wake up, they'll come back."

By then, everyone was sitting up. I stood up, and dusted off my shorts. "So where do we go now?"

"That way," Nico said suddenly. He snapped his head in the direction he was pointing to.

"No!" Annabeth yelped. She looked extremely scared, and I didn't understand why.

So looked at my puzzled face, and shook my shoulders. "That's the way to Tartarus!

Realization hit me, and I immediately agreed with; there was no way I could be persuaded into going that way.

***

"Go to Tartarus," I muttered to Nico as we were walking towards that exact place.

"Okay, it's a shame that you are coming too," Nico said.

Oh ha ha, I thought.

"Yep, I am pretty funny," Nico replied to my unspoken thoughts.

Urgh, I hate mind reading I thought.

"Me too cus, me too."

***

We stood at the entrance to the pit. None of us moved, we just stared.

"So, what are we supposed to do? I mean how do we get the rings back?" Thalia asked nervously.

"I know," Nico said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked, confused.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Annabeth said. She was looking at Nico suspiciously, and it took me a few minutes to realize why; he had blocked out all of his thoughts. My mind started to reel with questions; what could he possibly know that he didn't want us to know? What was he planning to do that we couldn't do as well?

"There's one thing I might have left out," Nico said in a monotone.

"Huh?" Thalia asked. She was looking between Nico and the entrance to the cave, which Nico was staring at intently.

"I didn't, I _couldn't _tell you something."

"Nico spit it out! What did you leave out?!"

He didn't say anything; he just started to walk into the entrance to the cave. His shoulders shook with what appeared to be grief, and he took small but deliberate steps.

"Nico!" Annabeth yelled after his retreating form. But he didn't stop, instead he sped up.

"Wait!" Thalia yelled. She raced after him, and grabbed his arm, yanking him backwards. "What in the name of Hades do you think you are doing?!" she screeched. But guess by the look on her face, she actually had a good guess as to what he was doing.

Annabeth and I followed them, and then we were at the very edge of the pit. Tartarus was right below us.

Nico looked at each of us individually. "I lied."

"What?" I asked.

"We aren't really tied together. I can take control and become immortal, but you guys will still have to die to wake everyone up. But there's another option, and that's the one I'm taking."

"And what would that option be?" Thalia said nastily. But I could tell she was very scared to find out.

"Well, I'm taking control. But you guys won't have to die. I don't know for sure if it'll work, but if I take control, then die, you guys will become immortal instead of me. Knowing my dad, he would want someone to become immortal, as a backup.

"And then there's the matter of your souls; you really don't need that part of your soul. If you want then, I'm sure the gods will help you get them. And anyway, since I'm doing this, the prophecy is complete," Nico said. Tears were rolling fast and hard down his pale face, and he was shaking.

"You guys are the best friends I've ever had. And I want to thank you for that. And please think of me from time to time, but don't be sad. I love you guys."

And then he jumped into the pit, but he didn't even scream.

Then everything went black.


	42. Beautiful

**Hey! I'm so sorry that I took forever to update. I was swamped with homework, and soccer is **_**completely **_**taking over my life! But I worked extra hard on this chapter, so I hope it makes up for it! I will try to update again this weekend, and it will be the last chapter. By the way, Percy may seem OOC at the end, but hopefully you will see that it was unavoidable. Anyway, R and R please!**

**Beautiful**

"Percy," a voice said. Someone was shaking my shoulder harshly.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, and found myself looking into a pair of eyes the exact same color mine were. I was looking at my dad. "Y-you're awake," I stated.

"Yes son, all thanks to you, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico." He looked at me with shinning eyes, and I could tell that he was proud.

"Lord-um dad, where is Nico?" I had to find out sooner or later, so I guess it was better to find out now. I waited with pattered breath, as he closed him eyes and then looked at me again. There was no sparkle in his eyes as he spoke to me.

"Perseus, what all did Nico tell you?"

"He told me a few things, but it was all very confusing. He said that his dad-Hades-wanted to overthrow Olympus just like Luke wanted to. And the only reason he gave us all rings was so that someone would. Nico had to take over all of us, and then we could all become immortal….And there might have been something else, but I don't exactly remember."

Poseidon took in a sharp breath, and looked around the room in which we were in. I noticed it for the first time then. It was a highly polished room with wooden desks that looked eons old-which I suspected they really were. Blue carpet lined the floor, and there was a beautiful throne in the corner of the room. The throne had seashells engraved in it, and it seemed to be made of real sand. Peals dotted the arm rests, and a soft blue cushion was on the seat. It didn't take me long to realize that I was in Poseidon's throne room.

"Son, I now understand that Nico was wrong. And that must be why he sacrificed himself-"

"Wait! Are you telling me that he is-"I took in a deep breath-"dead?"

"Son, let me get to that. I need to explain the basics first. Now, please recite the prophecy to receive." Poseidon got up from the bed he had been sitting on and began pacing the room.

"_To the Underworld you shall go_. _When a sacrifice is in need you will know_. _A son of Hades must take the lead_ _for you to get what you need_. _An enemy will appear_. _And you may lose all you hold dear_," I recited from memory.

"Perseus, first tell me what you think it means."

"Well, once the rings were stolen, I thought it was obvious that we would have to go to the Underworld to get them back. No one really understood the sacrifice part, or the son of Hades part. But now I get that part. Nico had to take control of everyone for us to survive. And then I don't know the other two parts."

Everything was quiet for a few seconds, and then Poseidon walked over to me. He sat on the edge of the bed, and looked me in the eye. "Let me explain it how it really is, son; you were right about the first line. The sacrifice was Nico. Nico had to sacrifice himself to help you, so you were right about the second line as well. But the third line still applies to Nico. The enemy was Kronos, but no one saw him except for Nico."

"Why was Nico the only one who saw him? That makes no sense!" Urgh! I was so confused.

"Nico was the only one to see him because the prophecy was meant for Nico, and Nico alone. I don't know why the Spirit of Delphi told you anything, but Nico was supposed to go on the quest alone."

Confusion overtook my ability to speak. I sat as still as a statue for a few seconds. But then the question that needed to be answered popped out of my mouth. "So, is everyone awake? Did the sacrifice work?"

"Yes, son, it worked. But Lord Hades made something happen that would alter the course of history forever. Do you remember the picture you saw when you received the prophecy right after everyone 'went to sleep?'" When I shook my head, he answered quietly, "You saw yourself sitting in my throne. Now tell me what you think happened."

I didn't want to answer, but it was unavoidable. "I think I'm the new god of the sea."

"Yes son, you are. Thalia is the new goddess of the sky, and Nico is not dead. He is the ruler of the dead now."

"What about Annabeth?"

My worst fears were conformed when he was silent.

"Dad, I need the truth," I said in a chocked voice. She couldn't be dead, she just couldn't!

"After Nico jumped into Tartarus, you all blacked out. Annabeth went into labor right after that. However, she didn't have any help delivering the baby, and the pain was excruciating for her. She was able to deliver, but she…died."

"I want to make her my immortal wife!" I said in a rush. "That's what Dionysus did isn't it…with Ariade?"

"If that is what you want, then you will have to go to Nico, and get her back from him. Knowing Nico, however, it will not be a difficult challenge.

"But we have other matters to discuss. You were the last one to wake up. Nico has already been briefed on the occurrences by Hades, and Thalia by Zeus. They have already discussed the matters of succession. Thalia has decided that she would like Zeus to stay with her as an immortal, and be a kind of informer. He will be giving her information and advice.

"Nico, on the other hand, has sent Hades to Tartarus. He was so furious with him when he woke up, that he didn't even know he was a god when he sent him to Tartarus.

"And now you must decide; would you like me to stay immortal with you and help you?"

"Yes father, I want you to stay with me. Everyone knows I'm not going to make the best ruler in the world. I will _defiantly _need help." I hadn't even thought about the answer I was going to give him. It just kind of slipped out. Yet, I knew right away that I had made the right decision.

"Thank you," Poseidon said quietly. "Now Percy, would you like to meet your child?"

My breath caught in my throat, and I froze physically and mentally. I had a child. I _really _had a child. "Yes," I whispered.

Poseidon walked over to a crib hidden behind the throne. The crib was a pale pink, and was encrusted with soft, white seashells, and pearls, much like the throne. He pulled out a little bundle wrapped in a blanket the same color as the crib.

"Here she is," my father said, placing the baby gently into my waiting arms.

I looked down into my daughters face. She had soft, pale skin and red, rosy cheeks. She opened her eyes to look at me, and for a moment I thought I was looking into my own reflection; she had the same exact color eyes as me. She had gorgeous blond hair, the exact same color as Annabeth's, and it was resting softly on her head.

She looked me in the eyes with attention that a newborn shouldn't have. I placed my hand on her soft cheek, and leaned in to kiss her softly on the head. She was my baby, and she was beautiful.


	43. Epilogue:My Happy Ending

**Wow! This is the last chapter…or rather epilogue. I had SOOO much fun writing this story! It was a fantastic experience! Thank you all for the reviews you have given me, and thanks for sticking with the story! I have a few ideas up my sleeve for a new story, but I was actually thinking about combining my three one-shots into a story of one-shots. Anyway look out for a new story by me! I really hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything PJO. **

**Epilogue-Happy Ending**

_One Year Later_

"Annabeth?" I called into the dark room. "Where are you? And where's Nicol?" It was never good to lose a wife or a child in the darkness of the throne room; I knew from experience. My heart was speeding up uncomfortably, since I didn't know where they were.

"Right behind you Percy," Annabeth said, causing me to jump and spin around. Even though I knew it was just her, my heart was pounding.

"Where had you been? Thalia and Nico are waiting on Olympus for Nicol's party. You know how Thalia gets when she's aggravated. Even Luke feels her wrath then," I said. I scooped up Nicol from the ground, and placed her on my hip. Nicol had grown into an adorable baby. She was only one year old, but she was attentive, could walk, and her hand-eye coordination was well progressed. Her golden hair was lengthening, but it was her eyes that stood out; much like mine, they were green, and always showed her emotions. But when she was calm, they were the exact same shade of gray as Annabeth's. Apollo had taken a great liking to Nicol, and she to him, so whenever they hung-out together, she looked exactly like a younger Annabeth.

"I still find it ironic that Luke has to control _Thalia_. I mean I know that Kronos put him under a spell, and that's why he served him, but…I don't know. It's just weird to me. But, hey, I trust him completely," Annabeth stated, smiling at me. I sighed. She really needed to get a reality check, but I decided to keep quiet.

She walked into the throne room, flipped on the lights, and walked over to her nightstand to grab her purse.

"Really, Annabeth, why do you need a purse? I'm a god, and our two best friends are gods as well. Why do you need to bring money to Olympus?" No matter how many times I asked her why, she always gave me the same answer;

"I feel comfortable with it. I'm going out, so it feels right to bring it."

Sighing again, I grabbed her hand, and we disappeared, with Nicol on my hip.

In the blink of an eye, we were standing outside the polished white doors to the huge throne room. However, it was not the least bit intimidating anymore. Without a care in the world, I pushed open the door, and was greeted by cheering.

"Happy birthday Nicol!" the crowd around us shouted.

Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hera, Thalia, Athena, Hestia, Apollo, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Nico, Poseidon, Zeus, Grover, and an assortment of magical creatures were all piled into the throne room. It was filled with gray and green balloons; some which had floated to the ceiling. Half a dozen tables were crowded in one corner, all circling a huge table filled with magnificent piles of food, for humans, and gods.

"Where's my best friend?" Apollo shouted to the crowd.

Nicol's, who's face was alit with happiness, reached out her little hands, and grabbed Apollo around the neck in a big hug- the crowd around us 'awed' in unanimity. Apollo carried her over to a small seat by the thrones which had balloons tied to the armrests.

"Well she looks happy, doesn't she?" Thalia said, coming over to stand next to Annabeth.

"She's so cute. It feels like just yesterday I woke up to find you holding a baby," Grover said, addressing Annabeth.

"Oh yeah. And you fainted!" Annabeth replied, her eyes glazing over as she reminisced.

"Percy," Luke said, offering his hand for me to shake. Hesitantly, I took it. You see, when Thalia was visiting Nico once in the Underworld, she ran into Luke. Just from one small conversation, she believed that he had been under Kronos's spell. And when Kronos was casted into Tartarus again by me, their bodies had separated, and the spell lifted.

One week later, Thalia made him her immortal husband. The only people who fully trusted him were Thalia and Annabeth. They constantly reminded me that it wasn't his fault, but I wasn't quite ready to forgive him.

Trying to break the tension, Nico came over to greet us as well. "Hey guys, I think you might have missed someone."

Puzzled, I turned around, and saw my mother with Paul Blofis.

"Percy!" she yelled, and then threw her arms around my neck in a bone crushing hug. One year ago, when all the mortals had woken up, and everything had been set in order, I went straight to her apartment to make sure she was ok. And I am pleased to say that car horns honked at me as I raced across the street, pedestrians glared as I ran into them, and little kids laughter filled the park; the mortals had woken up.

"Hey mom," I said. I broke out into a smile. I hadn't seen them in a few months, so it was great.

"Percy," Paul said, extending his hand, which I took and shook. Three weeks after everyone had woken up, Paul and my mom had gotten married. She was now Sally Blofis.

"Where's Nicol? Oh I will never get over how great that name is! Naming her after Nico was a wonderful idea!" my mom said. She had finally let go of me, but insisted on holding my hand.

"Playing with Apollo I think. Thanks by the way," I said as she and Paul went to find Nicol. Naming Nicol had been very hard. We didn't want to name her something unoriginal, so we went for a good name with a weird spelling. Nicol was perfect. (**A/N: Nicol is just Nicole without an "e." It's like Nico, but with an added "l" to make it a girl's name)**

"And mom, make sure you only eat the mortal food. As you know, you might blow up." I called out to her retreating figure. We actually had to bend a few rules for them to be up here at all but that was beside the point.

"Guys, it's time for Nicol to open presents!" Nico called to Annabeth and I. We walked over to Nicol's little throne, and with the snap of his fingers, Apollo set a huge pile of presents at her side. She smiled, with her gray eyes, and clapped her hands.

"This one's from me, kid," Apollo said, handing Nicol a small yellow box, with a red ribbon.

Happily, she ripped open the package with some difficulty, and picked it up in delight. She was holding a yellow IPod.

"Apollo, she's one," Annabeth said. She looked slightly aggravated and slightly amused.

"Yeah, but she needs to get into music right away," Apollo replied. He was watching her toss the IPod into the air and then catch it over and over.

"This one is from me," Artemis said. She bent over and pulled a silvery box from the pile and handed it to Nicol, who ripped it open. It contained a silver barrette in the shape of a deer.

"Oh that's adorable!" Annabeth said delighted. She took the barrette from Nicol and put it into her hair. It contrasted nicely with her golden hair.

Grover reached into the pile and handed her a badly wrapped present. She tore it open and was delighted to find a wood pipe. She started "tooting" on it, and making lots of noise.

"Geeze, she has a ton of presents, we may be here for a while!"

***

Two hours and thirty-four presents later, we were done. Nicol now had a new crib, about ten books, jewelry, and toys. Her favorite was, by far, the IPod Apollo had given her. Even though she had no idea how to use it, she said "pitey" every time she saw it. We could only assume she meant "pretty."

"Nicol, are you ready to have some cake?" I asked her, turning around.

But when I looked at where she had been awake a second ago, I was surprised to see that she was asleep.

"Well I don't see a point in having cake without the birthday girl, so I think we will just go home," Annabeth said. She scooped Nicol up into her arms. Nicol moved around a little, but otherwise stayed fast asleep.

"Thanks guys, this was great. I could tell she loved it!" I said to the surrounding crowd.

After many farewells and waves, Annabeth, Nicol, and I left for my palace under the sea.

I took us directly to Nicol's room. It was painted a light sea green with sea horses painted on the walls. Nicol loved everything about the water, and was, just like me, able to talk to underwater animals. Indented into the wall that went all the way around was a tank full of the rarest sea animals and plants.

In the corner of her room was her old crib. It was wooden and carved with swirls.

Annabeth laid her down in her crib, and Nicol started to suck her thumb. Annabeth's eyes lit up with adoration. "She's so beautiful."

"Yes she is," I replied. I gathered her into my arms and hugged her, and kissed the top of her head.

Yes, I was a new god, and with being a god came many responsibilities. But I also got to spend the rest of my life with Annabeth, Nicol, and my friends. That was something that I could live with…forever. It was my happy ending.

**A/N: Ok, I have a quick question: Should I do a short (10 chapters) story about Nicol when she goes to Camp Half blood? I'm thinking about it so let me know what you think! **

_Fin_


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